The PR boys over at Blackwater are betting that if they change their logo a little bit, people will forget all about the little issues they have had over in Iraq and I suppose embrace the company. And you know what? I think they are on to something.
I love how they changed their color from actual "blood flowing in the streets red" to more "blood being splattered over innocent civilians" red. And the claw, it has gone from a full claw ready to pounce at a moment's notice to a claw missing a chunk in it's foot, so I suppose that means it's not the claw of a violent mountain cat, more a friendly mountain cat that is just looking for a pet. Finally, they got rid of the "Old West" style font of Blackwater on top, which I guess was a good idea, because when your employees are being accused of running wild in Iraq in kind of a law-less Dodge City kind of way, you should eliminate any and all reminders of that era in American History. Well, that is what I noticed, but as the article points out, these guys are working on a whole 'nother symbolic level.
Here is the article from the New York Times, My favorite quote is:
“The old logo suggests that they’re targeting people. The new logo is a more ambiguous, more safe corporate logo.”
