Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Walgreens, Washington Nationals to settle logo dispute out of court

Washington, D.C.--The logos for M.L.B.'s Washington Nationals and the drugstore chain Walgreens are nearly identical. The cursive "W" swoops, curves, bends, and twists resembling the silhouette of a Six Flags rollar coaster. Two weeks ago, Walgreens, which traces its roots to 1901, filed suit in federal district court alleging trademark infringement against the Nationals, established in 2005. However, after several days of "light" negotiating the two sides agreed to settle the dispute out of court. According to the Washington Post, the Nationals accepted a Walgreens proposal to rename the team the Washington Walgreens for twelve games a year for the next ten seasons beginning in 2013. "We really like the 'W' we have on our uniforms," said Al Brinery, assistant to the traveling president. "We considered changing the logo but it just didn't work. We think it's a fair settlement." The national chain is now the official drugstore of the Nationals and four players--at the choosing of Walgreens--will appear in Walgreens television commercials for the next five years. In addition, two Nationals players must become actual pharmacists and spend time working the counter at D.C. metro Walgreens as a "cool promotion."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a perfect example of one of either two things: Some guy in the Nationals office popping open Microsoft Word and sifting through the fonts to find a "cool looking" W. After all, anybody can do a logo. Like a client said to me once: "What? you want how much? My daughter did this one (pulls out ugly business card) in 15 minutes!"

-or-

Somebody hired their kid still a freshie in art school (Jr. College) because they are "an art type or designer or something."

The simple fact is that doing a logotype, particularly that ugly and misapplied, that close to another entity is a rookie unforgivable sin.

Edward J. Cunningham said...

Open up a Washington Post newspaper in the late 60's or early 70's when the Senators played at DC/RFK Stadium. THAT'S where the "curly W" logo came from.

Anonymous said...

-or-

You didn't read the first two words of this article