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Most Hilarious Corporate Logo Fails

Can you say awkward? These corporate logos failed in the most hilarious ways.

By Journal StaffPublished 7 years ago 7 min read
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Having a logo without an edge is corporate suicide. What role do logos play in branding strategies? One of the most important marketing tools any company can have for themselves is a good logo design. It not only provides an easy to recognize identity for the business, but also communicates the essence of the firm. Companies spend millions of dollars trying to come up with that perfect logo, hiring the best creative thinkers they can find to brainstorm logo ideas, break it apart, change it up, and sometimes throw it away altogether until they get the absolute perfect logo.

In this modern day and age, many new companies are popping up, vying for the attention of the consumer. Some companies have made monumental mistakes with their logos, taking design matters out of the hands of the professional designers, wanting quick logos on a budget, or using designers who get panicky with fast approaching deadlines. The first feature of a good and effective logo is that it has an immediate impact and holds the viewer’s attention. However, just because it catches the eye doesn’t mean that your logo is doing its job. Journal has found ten hilarious logo fails whose memorable brand representation will leave you asking the same question – what the hell were they thinking?

Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Youth Commission

This was the 1973 logo for the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Youth Commission. This isn’t alluding to anything about stereotypes about how the Catholic Church treats young children; believe it or not, this is no joke. This is the actual logo they went with. It even won an award from the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles. One imagines that this 1973 design for the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Youth Commission would not make the cut today. We know that the 70’s were a simpler, gentler, more innocent time, but for God’s sake, did no one at the Archdiocesan Youth Commission see anything wrong with this? We think the graphic designer was doing some serious trolling of the Catholic Church when they submitted this.

Arlington Pediatric Center

Would you take your kids here? Take a good, hard look at that logo before you answer the question. Arlington Pediatric Center is located in Arlington, Virginia. They certainly gained some unwanted publicity when this logo design gone impossibly wrong went viral. While the center may employ wonderful physicians, the public will forever misperceive its services because of this tragic logo. It would be really interesting to know how the logo affected their clients. Someone should really tell Chris Hanson about this place. But wait, there's more! We just checked their website, and apparently they have changed their logo to something more pleasing. It’s no longer a pedophilic center. Now it has something to do with crabs (look attentively at the letter C). Who's approving these logos? Fail again, or is it their marketing strategy?

Brazilian Institute for Oriental Studies

The Institute of Oriental Studies at Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil is such a popular area of study that it can be hard to squeeze into. Unlike other areas of interest, one cannot just slide right in, even when they're ready but, thankfully, getting in is the toughest part. The concept for the logo at the Institute of Oriental Studies is a sun rising behind a Japanese tea house. The product is, well, less serene. It is supposed to just be a house under a rising sun. If you don't see it, the secret is to just think anatomically. Once you see it, we promise you'll never be able to un-see it. They hastily withdrew their logo once they realized it could be perceived as something other than a house in front of a sun.

Kudawara Pharmacy

Explain your symptoms to the pharmacists at Japanese pharmacy Kudawara and they'll go deep to find the source of the problem. Yes, this actually exists. Although the aim was probably to use the ‘K’ in a clever way, it unfortunately had a different outcome than what they expected. All we can make out is two stick figures. You could argue that the logo is fine and people just have dirty minds, but how this got through final client approval is anyone’s guess. The pharmacists here must be really hands-on, so what exactly do they sell, you ask? Whatever the doctor prescribes; Doctor Ruth, that is.

Vermont Maple Syrup

With spring's arrival, Vermont tourists who wouldn't know a sugarhouse from an outhouse can just look for the handy Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association stamp that reads, "State of Vermont Pure Maple Syrup Sold Here." The logo bears a striking resemblance to a man in a pair of green trousers urinating into a red wooden bucket. Tragically for the Vermont counties of Caledonia and Essex, they became the literal butt of that graphic design joke. No one in the association remembers much about the origin of the "Sold Here" sign, which has been in use for at least a decade. For obvious reasons, no marketing firm or graphic designer has come forward to take credit, or blame, for the phallic faux pas.

The Computer Doctors

The Computer Doctors claim to fix your computer. These ‘doctors’ seem like they know less about CPU problems and seem more like that guy from the VHS movies you 'found' in your dad's sock drawer. You know, the ones that offer that pretty lady help with her software. Maybe this logo was intentional, since they know what most people use computers for, but we’re pretty sure that's how the computer broke in the first place. The Computer Doctors fix failed hard drives and broken monitors. You have to go somewhere else to fix your leaky genitalia and erectile dysfunction.

Junior Jazz Dance Classes

Are there two people in this logo, or one? This is a hilarious example of what happens when you design a logo without double checking it afterwards or seeking a second opinion. Focus on the dancing children to see what makes the logo inappropriate. While nothing is innately wrong with this logo, if you squint (or have a dirty mind like some of us), you can see the optical illusion. About half of all people will first see a naked woman's torso here; if you didn’t see a pair of breasts, congratulations on your innocence. I didn't even know it was a dancing pair until I read the title of the ad.

Kids Exchange

There is a reason that punctuation and spacing is important, kids. Kerning is the art of adjusting spaces between letters and words. Spacing is important in all aspects of life. Successful relationships require space, as do successful sentences. A place called Kids Exchange is already dealing with the exchange rate on American to Canadian children and those trying to replace a broken, older model child for a newer one. With unfortunate spacing, Kids Exchange can be seen as Kid Sex Change. In our opinion, parents should encourage their young children think about it more carefully before going through with this serious operation. Proper punctuation should always be encouraged. Simply inserting a hyphen or space would of have eliminated the issue, but the designer should probably brush up on their kerning skills.

The Office of Government Commerce

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was a UK Government Office established in 2000 as an independent Office of the Treasury, before closing permanently in 2011. Sometimes you need to shift your view to realize the error. While this looks like a great logo for 'OGC,' and they sound like they were a wonderful company, we wonder what it looks like turned on its side? If the global Occupy movement doesn’t illustrate how people feel that government organizations could care less about its governed, then this logo sure takes care of that. The graphic was already on company equipment before it was proudly unveiled for employees, who immediately spotted a man who seems to have expertise in ‘working’ his governmental body.

Locum

This is a story about a Swedish property management company called Locum. Believe it or not, Locum decided to send out heartwarming Christmas greetings cards (things like that never seem to happen in America). In trying to spread good cheer, Locum used a heart in their logo. There seems to be a little problem though; thanks to the language barrier, the punctuation at the end presents an issue. This is not a full sentence: I (heart) NY has their kerning right, but, well, we don’t think anyone (heart)’s those shirts. Other than that, we can't possibly imagine how this logo could be interpreted to spell anything other than Locum.

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