WHSmith have updated their logo to remove the ‘Smith’, leaving Brits up and down the country totally baffled. And many have said the new design looks strikingly similar to the NHS’s sign.
The high street stationery retailer has implemented new signs which simply read ‘WHS’, before helpfully putting the name of the town next to it to remind shoppers where they are.
Critics also pointed out that nobody refers to the shop in spoken language as WHS, with most people opting for either the full name of ‘WHSmith’ or the nickname ‘Smith’s’. The rebrand has sparked backlash on the Internet.
One person said: “OMG this is real? Why would anyone propose this rebrand and why would anyone agree to its roll-out? It’s a terribly boring logotype which has retained zero brand equity. Fools”. Another said it was “stupid and lazy beyond belief”.
The shop is named after William Henry Smith, who took his father’s business to the booming success it is today. Nevertheless, the attempted erasure of ‘Smith’ is said to be just a trial in a small number of shops.
A spokesperson told The Sun: “We are testing new signage at a small number of locations to localise our offer and highlight the key product categories customers can always find at WHSmith.”
The brand has been around since 1792, and there currently about 600 WHSmith stores on the high street, as well as more than 800 travel stores which are located in airports, train stations, hospitals, workplaces and motorway services.
The trial rebrand has sparked concerns that WHSmith is going through a testing time, especially as a couple of stores have been closed this year – Manchester’s Market Street store ceased trading just weeks ago, while Bicester’s shut down on August 30.
One person looked to the past for inspiration for the company, saying: “WHSmith’s original cube logo is a belter and timeless – should’ve brought that back.” The company once had an egg-shaped red and gold sign, which changed to an orange and brown cube shape in the 1970s.
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Source: www.express.co.uk
This notice was published: 2023-12-28 12:04:00
