Boston Athletic Association
The Boston Athletic Association
unveiled a new logo for the Boston Marathon last month, and “people are not happy" about the new look and corporate branding attached, according to Henry Chandonnet of FAST COMPANY. The logo redesign is “small: Spike’s orientation is flipped, and he’s made a bit more menacing.” The marathon logo, along with the new Spike, “sports a fresh Bank of America sponsorship tag.” Despite the small tweaks, the “community response has been staggering: a recent Boston.com reader poll found 55% not liking the new logo.” The “most obvious change” in Spike’s design is his orientation. More controversial is Spike’s “athletic jawline,” which “curves into the chin where it previously ran smooth.” It creates the brief “illusion of muscles.” Alongside the redesigned Spike, the new Boston Marathon logo also features a “stamp of corporate marketing.” While the fiercer appearance has “some runners confused, the corporate branding has incited more anger.” Chandonnet writes there is some “ire for this emblazoned corporate sponsorship.” This is not the first time the B.A.A. found themselves in hot water for the Bank of America branding. Back in April, the Boston Marathon debuted a new medal, featuring the bank’s logo on each and every medallion. The criticism “was immediate” (
FAST COMPANY, 7/1).
