The Story Behind Your Favorite Food And Drink Logos

Starbuck's Siren

The lovely green lady brandishing all Starbuck's paraphernalia is actually a bit of a muse to the folks who work for the coffee megachain. They chose the image of a siren as a way to keep ties with Seattle's seaport roots. According to the corporate website, is seen today as "a storyteller, carrying the lore of Starbucks ahead..."

Arby's Hat

The signature Arby's hat is more than just a nod to the cowboy grub the company serves. They originally designed the hat-like logo to reflect the Western motif in the first restaurants.

McDonald's Golden Arches

It has been a long journey of reconfigured logos and mascots to the modern McDonald's logo we've come to easily identify. Over time, the McDonald's logo morphed from Speedee the mascot, to the early iterations of the arches. Today, the golden arches stand as a testament to the business model itself. According to author Alan Hess,  "The arch was conceived by businessman Richard McDonald, an untrained designer with no knowledge of erudite architectural examples. His intent was pragmatic: to be noticed. This determined [the arches'] scale, position, and simple shape visible over long distances following the precedent of earlier drive-ins with which he was familiar. To McDonald, the arch was an arbitrary form, without symbolic or historic associations, which he hoped would come to symbolize McDonald's..."

Coca-Cola's Fancy Script

When John Pemberton developed Coca-Cola in 1886, he wanted to create a signature logo to go with it. After experimenting with writing the company's name in elaborate Spencerian script, a penmanship style of the time, he ultimately determined that a version with the two prominent C's in this script would be perfect for advertising.