In all the madness of the past (checks calendar) 11 days, you may have forgotten that it’s a brand new year, and brand new years expect that you bring forth your best, sexiest self. Unlike myself, who merely chose to up her 2021 game by committing to not wearing the same pants three days in a row, Burger King has gone all in with a full rebrand— its first in over 20 years—and is delivering lewks for days. Check out the tres chic video announcement, which you should watch with the volume on so you can be titillated sonically, visually, and spiritually:
In the immortal words of Right Said Fred, this is so sexy it hurts. It’s retro yet modern, nostalgic yet innovative, sophisticated but whimsical. According to Burger King’s official press release, the new aesthetic is meant to “better reflect the new Burger King food journey” with design principles meant to “capture the unique characteristics of the Burger King brand: Mouthwatering, Big & Bold, Playfully Irreverent and Proudly True.”
The new logo is remarkably similar to the classic logo Burger King used until 1999, when it changed to a logo meant to emphasize the “fast” part of fast food. Raphael Abreu, head of design for Burger King parent Restaurant Brands International told Restaurant Business Online that at the time the chain was looking to aggressively promote its drive-thrus and used the logo to convey a sense of speedy service. The return to the old “burger-style” logo is meant to draw the attention back to the food itself, as well as evoke a sense of nostalgia that will hopefully remind people of why they love Burger King in the first place. As strong as these reasons are, there’s an even better one for the streamlined redesign: as the restaurant industry becomes increasingly digital, minimalist logos are easier to scale and easier to read.
“The simplicity of the logo—fewer shapes, fewer colors—definitely looks better on the screen if you reduce the size of it,” Abreu said. “It definitely reads much better than the previous identity.”
The new visual identity will take some time to fully roll out across Burger King’s 13,000-plus locations, but can already be seen on the company’s website, apps, and social media accounts, and is appearing on all new paperware and packaging. Additionally Burger King employees will be getting spiffy new uniforms, which the company says is a blend of contemporary and comfortable style with distinctive colors and graphics. Will Burger King eventually open its own swag shop so that we, the people, can one day rock these sweet threads ourselves? We can only hope.