Mystery Behind Starbucks Logo
By: Harsimren Pabla
Greek Origin
Starbucks, the famous coffee restaurant, has an interesting myth related to its logo. It goes back to 1971, when Starbucks was at its beginning. A logo was being searched for that would capture the spirit of Seattle and represent the attitude of coffee. The logo was decided to be a Siren. Sirens were sea-nymphs that lived on an island, where they would lure people (sailors) with enchanting music. Later, they were given an image of a mermaid, which is now the logo that Starbucks uses.
15th Century Siren
Sirens Singing to Lure Sailors
Mermaid Version of Sirens
Connection to Modern Usage
The attractive music of the Sirens, and the addicting attitude of coffee, was the major reason why the logo of Starbucks was chosen to be a Siren. Through this, the spirit of Seattle and the history of coffee was portrayed, which is what the men were searching for. An explanation of this topic can be found in Howard Schultz' book called Pour Your Heart Into It: “‘Terry [Heckler]…pored over old marine books until he came up with… an old sixteenth-century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or Siren, encircled by the store’s original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early Siren… was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself.”’ The entire idea of using a Siren to represent Starbucks, was developed with certain criteria in mind, such as the spirit of Seattle and addictiveness of coffee.