No matter what direction you look in you can see some sort of brand logo. Whether you’re watching TV with your family and a commercial comes on for men’s deodorant, or you’re driving down the highway and you see a billboard for McDonald’s, there are forms of advertisement everywhere you look. Now, you may not care to think about the advertisement itself, but have you ever thought about how these huge companies actually got their names? Keep reading to discover how some of the world’s biggest companies got the names we all know today.People know about Beats headphones because of their incredibly high quality of sound, but what most people don’t know is how significant their logo is to their reputation. If you pay very close attention to the logo and use a bit of your imagination, you can see that it resembles a person wearing headphones! Also, the creators decided to go with the color red to symbolize the passion and energy they have for their audio products.
When Jack Dorsey created “Status” in 2006, his intentions were to create an online SMS service that would update texts instantly. Not really liking the name “Status,” Dorsey realized that he needed to create a “buzzing” feeling anytime someone heard the company’s name. At first, the company came up with “Twitch,” but after realizing that the name had some negative stigma, they switched from “Twitch” to the name we know today: “Twitter.”
Thanks to his work with cubism, Dadaism, and surrealism, Salvador Dali is one of the most well-known artists in the world. And it’s not really surprising to find out that Chupa Chups lollipops got their logo from this well-known artist. In 1969, Chupa Chups approached Dali, asking him to design their new logo. Of course, Dali obliged and created the logo we all know today.
When Jeff Bezos started his company in 1994 he decided to call it “Cadabra,” after Abracadabra. Unfortunately, after a lawyer mistook the company’s name for the word “cadaver,” Bezos knew that he needed to make some changes. Using the tagline “Earth’s biggest bookstore” as inspiration, Bezos eventually settled on the word Amazon, after the largest river in the world, because he wanted the name to reflect his vision for the company.
If you’re an unorganized person then you’ve probably heard about the unbelievably helpful app, Evernote. Characterized by an elephant with a folded down ear, Evernote got their inspiration from, none other than, this beautiful gentle giant. Elephants are known to have an excellent memory, so what’s more appropriate than using an elephant for the logo of a note-taking/remember-all-of-the-things-you-need-to-do app?
When FedEx decided that their name, Federal Express, was a bit of a mouthful, they decided that it was time to re-brand their company. Shortening their name to FedEx, since that’s what people were calling them anyway, was the first step the shipping company made. Their next step was to change their logo, which they did by adding a small arrow in between the “E” and “X” in FedEx. They did such a good job hiding it that most people still don’t notice it. Do you see it now?
Unlike the other logos on this list, the hidden symbol in the Coca-Cola logo was completely unintentional. When Coca-Cola noticed that they accidentally included the Danish flag in their logo, they used it to their advantage. As a part of their culture, the people of Denmark, which is dubbed the happiest place on Earth, give away Danish flags to people arriving at the airport. To use their new logo to their advantage, Coca-Cola launched a marketing campaign to the people of Denmark, but instead of offering Danish flags, they offered their cans of coke!
When Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA, he was only 17 years old. While being young would typically force people to use their imagination, Kamprad didn’t use too much of his creativity to come up with the name of his company. In fact, IKEA is actually an acronym for his initials (Ingvar Kamprad), the first letter of his childhood farm (Elmtaryd), and his hometown (Agunnaryd).
The Panera Bread Corporation looked to the written word for inspiration in creating their name. According to the co-founder Ron Shaich: “We wanted a name that was an empty vessel we could put personality into and that’s how we ended up with Panera.” Using the Italian word for bread, Pane, and the word for time, era, the company came up with their well-known name. It’s also the Latin word for breadbasket….if you were wondering.
If you’re a fan of Formula 1 racing then this logo should look extremely familiar to you. Formula 1 racing is one of the most popular forms of racing and people from all over the world can’t seem to get enough of it. Even though its logo has transformed throughout the years, this one tends to stick out in people’s memories. When you first look at the logo, you can distinctly see the large “F,” but once you look closer, you can see the number one in the middle coming out of the red lines, which were added to represent speed!
True to their nature, Sony got a little creative when they made their logo for their VAIO line of laptops. Not only does the name sound like “bio,” which symbolizes life, but they also used their imagination when it came to the design of the logo, as well. VAIO stands for Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer, so when Teiyu Goto, the supervisor of product design, he decided to make the “VA” in the logo look like a wave, just like the basic analog signal. The “IO” was meant to look like the numbers 1 and 0, which are symbolic of the digital signals in binary code.
According to the Toyota franchise, there’s a lot of meaning behind their logo. On Toyota’s global website, they wrote: “The two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the heart of the customer and the heart of the company. They are overlapped to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between each other. The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the outer oval symbolizes “T” for Toyota as well as a steering wheel, representing the vehicle itself. The outer oval symbolizes the world embracing Toyota. Each oval is contoured with different stroke thicknesses, similar to the “brush” art known in Japanese culture.”
The logo the company LG uses is probably the most well-thought out logo on this list. Not only does the logo look like a face, but each of the lines has a meaning of its own. Apparently, the letters “L” and “G” were put into a circle to represent technology, humanity, future, youth, and the world. The eye in the “face” was used to represent the fact that they’re focused, goal-oriented, and positive. Just going by their logo, LG seems like a company you can trust.
Most people think that BMW created its symbol to resemble the propellers of an airplane, but those people are wrong. In fact, the logo for BMW is actually a combination of a couple of different sources. The logo is a branch of Rapp Motorenwerke’s logo, which is where the BMW company grew from, and they also used the colors of the Bavarian flag, which is the area of Germany that BMW came from.
When Mark Zuckerburg originally created Facebook it was a bit different than the social media platform we all use today. Originally, Zuckerburg called the site TheFacebook and it was used to connect the students of Harvard University. After he went public with the site, he changed the name to Facebook.com and the rest is history!
It may not come as a surprise to find out that Pepsi paid a large amount of money for the logo they currently use. The design, which cost the company a cool million, was created with secrets in mind. According to the designer, Pepsi has several secret meanings in it, including references to the golden ratio, the theory of relativity, and Pythagoras.
When Donald and Doris Fisher opened the GAP in 1969, they mainly sold to teenagers and young adults, which is how they actually got their name. The Fishers, who sold everything from vinyl records to denim, named their store the GAP to point out the generational gap between adults and teenagers. Who would have thought that the Fishers were such forward-thinking people?
If you’re a fan of frozen treats then you’ve most likely been to Baskin Robbins before, but have you ever really paid attention to the logo they use? To the untrained eye, it looks like they took the easy way out by just using their initials, but we know better. When you look closely to the pink part of the logo, you’ll notice that it looks like the number “31.” This is because Baskin Robbins initially offered 31 different flavors of eye scream so customers could try a new flavor every day!
When most people look at the Hyundai logo they see the letter “H,” and if we’re being honest, it definitely does look like the eighth letter of the alphabet, but it’s not. When Hyundai was thinking about their logo they wanted to incorporate their values, so they began to brainstorm on how to get it done. What they came up with may look like the first letter of their name, but it’s actually meant to look like two people shaking hands to close a deal!
Like many other companies, Adidas has changed their logo a number of times. When they first started out, the company used the three slanted lines that we can all remember. Then, the company switched to the trefoil, which was the company’s way of saying that they were expanding their company in diverse ways. Finally, the Adidas logo we have today: the iconic slanted three lines, which were meant to look like a mountain range, above their well-known name, Adidas.
If you’re a chocolate lover, then you surely recognize this memorable logo. What even the most devoted chocolate fans don’t realize is that the logo for Toblerone chocolate was carefully planned. If you draw your attention to the mountain range on the container, which was also designed to look like a mountain range, you’ll see a white area that looks remarkably similar to an adorable white bear. Do you see it?
Häagen-Dazs could be considered one of the greatest ice cream brands to ever exist, but there’s something that we need to clear up about this deliciously creamy dessert. As as a tribute to the exemplary way Denmark treated their Jewish population during World War II, inventor/founder Reuben Mattus came up with the name Häagen-Dazs. Oddly enough, Mattus claimed that the name was “Danish-sounding,” but it wasn’t actually Danish at all! Mattus was so proud of Denmark’s kind treatment of the Jews that he even included an outline of Denmark on the early labels.
Pinterest encourages its users to “pin” all of the things they like or want to try to their profile, and it was this that led the company to choose their logo. If you look closely at the bottom of the letter “P” in their logo, you’ll notice that it looks just like the tip of a pin! So, when you “pin” the things you’re interested in on your profile to use later, you get Pinterest!
Skype was the very first video and calling service on the Internet when it was released in 2003. At first, the company was called “sky peer-to-peer” because it seemed like people were being brought together wirelessly through the sky. Eventually, creators thought that it would be best to shorten the name, so the called it Skyper. Oddly enough, Skyper.com was already taken, so they dropped the “r” and created the Skype.com we know today.
A Danish carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen created the Lego brand we know today in 1934. The Lego name comes from the Danish phrase “Leg Godt,” which means “Play Well.” Or if you want the Latin meaning, Lego means “I Put Together” or “I Assemble.” Even though they didn’t start making the blocks until 1949, they’ve been making the best building blocks for kids ever since.
When Lee Byung-Chul founded Samsung in 1938, he wanted it to last forever. Originally, Samsung started out as a trading company, but they eventually moved to electronics in the 1960s. Lee Byung-Chul decided to call his company Samsung because it means “Three Stars” or “Tristar” in the Korean language. He wanted the company to last as long as the stars and the number three is regarded as a powerful number in the Korean culture.
When Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker founded the world’s most popular coffee company in 1971, they were told to pick out a name that started with the letters “ST” because they were bold and strong. Bowker, who just so happened to be a writer, remembered reading the book Moby Dick as a child. In the book, Captain Ahab’s first mate was named “Starbuck,” and the owners decided that it was a perfect name for their product! They even stuck with the nautical them by using a drawing of an old sea siren as the logo!
When 7-Eleven was founded in 1927, it was actually a small grocery store called “Tote’m Stores.” In 1946, the chain changed its name to 7-Eleven to represent their new hours, which were from 7 am to 11 pm. So not only did they change their name, but now you’re more likely to buy a Slurpee there rather than any kind of groceries.
Even though most people believe Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs named their company after their love for The Beatles, the real inspiration for their name comes from something much simpler. When Jobs visited an apple orchard in the state of Oregon, he used all of the bright red apples as inspiration. After suggesting “Apple Computer” to his partner, Wozniak agreed that it would be a good name, although, he did point out that people might confuse it with the Beatles label, Apple Records.
