Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale has a newly hatched logo, but it was decades in the making.
There’s no mascot, much less a chicken named Big Red sporting a red cane and top hat.
That whimsical creature graced Tyson’s logo from 1964 to 1972, and the 1972 logo was the last to include the full “Tyson Foods” name until the company’s 139,000 worldwide employees first saw the new corporate logo last month.
The new design is a throwback to a white-type “Tyson” on an oval colored background that the corporation used in several versions from 1972 to 2017. Then the chicken and meat producer employed a circled blue “T” with a weather vane arrow through it alongside the Tyson name. While the circled “T” became the corporate logo, the Tyson brand logo remained unchanged.
The revised corporate logo brings company name and brand name together again, unifying “our history and our future,” the company said in a statement. “Almost 90 years ago, Tyson Foods began as a chicken company and today we have evolved into a world-class food company and recognized leader in protein.”
The company said the design “replicates our flagship brand logo” and shares its DNA. “The red scallops and distinctive font are well known.”
Tyson Foods Inc. has several brands with well-known logos, including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park franks, Wright Brand bacon, State Fair corn dogs and Aidells sausage.
Advertising executive Martin Thoma of Thoma Thoma in Little Rock took a look at the logo change from a corporate branding perspective.
“If the corporate entity and one of its most prominent food brands are going to have the same name, as in the case of Tyson Foods [and the Tyson brand], it’s going to be a lot more unified to have a similar identity.”
That’s a consistent approach in messaging to consumers, investors, partners and others, Thoma said. “You really don’t want to create cognitive dissonance with similar names yet dissimilar logos. It’s a customer-centric move for that reason.”
Companies tend to change logos periodically, at least once or so per generation, Thoma said.
“Because logos are like fashion, colors and industrial design, they follow trends and have to remain contemporary in their look and feel.”
Tyson’s first logo, from the 1930s — when the company was founded by John W. Tyson — was a simple gray, black-and-white “Tyson’s Feed & Hatchery.” The brand was “Tyson’s Pride” from 1964 to 1967, when the company changed its name to Tyson Foods Inc.
For some months, Big Red carried his cane beside the Tyson Foods name, then the reverse-type “Tyson” on a colored background made its debut for a four-decade run.
“A company doesn’t want to change what’s quaintly called ‘trade dress’ too frequently or it risks confusing customers and stakeholders,” Thoma said. “This is why you’ll often see logo designs follow a mantra: evolution, not revolution. That certainly pertains to the Tyson Foods update.”
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