The Seductive History of Starbucks Logo

This is what the Starbucks logo would look like from behind.

This is her tail and it is spread wide open.

Now it's important for you to understand that this design was intentional

and kind of creepy as you'll see throughout this video.

In order to understand why Starbucks chose such an odd image

to represent the company, we need to go back to the beginning.

It was 1971 and the founders, inspired by Moby Dick,

chose the name Starbucks.

With Seattle being a port city and their coffee coming in on ships,

they wanted their brand to be related to the sea.

Next on their list was to find a logo.

According to the company's website, while they were studying old marine books,

a mysterious nautical figure called to them.

They had discovered a 16th century depiction of a twin-tailed mermaid,

later to be identified as a siren.

And almost immediately,

they knew they found their logo.

You might assume that they chose the siren because it looked like a mermaid and lived in the sea.

But there's more. is actually a deeper and darker reason behind their decision.

You see, the siren has its own history that's sort of troubling, and the original founders knew this.

In Greek mythology, the siren was first interpreted as a bird with a woman's head,

later they were pictured as a woman with wings and bird feet.

They continued to evolve into a dragon-type beast, until finally being interpreted as the mermaid creature we see today.

Regardless of the different variations,

the characteristics of the siren remained consistent.

They were seductive and violent.

They used their beauty to seduce sailors to come with them in the water.

Typically, a siren would sing and the sailors would be unable to keep themselves from her.

They would literally jump into the water and to their deaths.

You might remember sirens from the tale of Odysseus, when he tied himself to a mast to avoid being drawn in by their beauty and singing.

But wait!

What does this have to do with Starbucks?

Didn't they just choose the siren because it looked like a mermaid?

Well, look at the first logo.

The siren's chest was bare, and her split tail was seductively spread wide open.

This depiction was no accident.

The owners expected people to see Starbucks, smell Starbucks, and desire Starbucks.

Just like the sailors couldn't deny the seduction of the sirens, the founders of Starbucks wanted to make you unable to resist their coffee.

And this isn't speculation.

Former chairman and CEO Howard Schultz wrote, That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself.

As the company started to grow, they ran into a problem.

This seductive, bare-breasted creature was a little too risque when it was scaled up in size.

By changing the artwork to make her more appropriate,

Starbucks was able to put the image on their trucks without backlash.

And over the next 20 years, the logo became even more tame.

However… Through all these variations, one thing has remained consistent.

The siren has always been the focal point.

In fact, the company loves this creature so much that in 2008, they went back to the original bare-breasted logo.

This was an immediate flop with the public, and it was quickly discontinued.

Starbucks doesn't even mention this in their logo evolution page on their website.

But it goes to show how dedicated they are to this creature,

and you might think that seduction and irresistibility make for a creepy marketing strategy, but at the end of the day,

it is working.