A New Brand Day for Giant Shoppers

In addition to a sailboat, Della Duncan saw a salad in the logo, specifically a chopped salad. Riffing from that, she saw the diversity of our country, not a melting pot where ingredients are boiled to the same soupy consistency but a healthful meal where arugula nestles next to bacon bit, iceberg lettuce next to crouton.

"We love that everyone sees something different in it," Carol Austin, vice president of brand and marketing strategy for Giant/Stop and Shop, told Brandweek Magazine. "That makes it very dynamic."

Here's what I see: wings, specifically partridge wings. Tell me that logo doesn't look like someone's taken a carving knife to two-thirds of America's beloved Partridge Family. C'mon get hungry!

What's In a Name?

At least Giant kept its name. It didn't opt for the sort of total rebrand that involves a new nonsense word. What is a "Verizon" anyway? A very nice horizon?

Business names tell us what the founders thought was on their customers' minds. Magruder's is the oldest grocery store in the area, founded in 1875, back when a family name was enough to promise commitment and quality.

Safeway's name dates back to 1925. That's 19 years after the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed but still a reminder that some packaged food used to be bad for you -- never mind that sometimes it still is.

Giant Food was established in 1936. During the stomach-rumbling depths of the Depression, "Giant Food" must have sounded pretty good.

What do we seem obsessed with today? Whole Foods. Don't give us any of that half-food stuff.

My e-mail:kellyj@washpost.com.