Well, there you have it. What a piece of art.
Back in 2006, we just about blew a gasket over the rebranding exercise undertaken by the then-McGuinty Liberals to freshen up the appearance of Ontario’s logo. A plain, easily-recognized trillium was re-worked to look as appealing as a sprig of poison ivy. The cost of the facelift was in excess of the estimated $219,000 and the result had an eerily Liberal logo appearance.
That ridiculous move made for a running joke with our current MPP Ted Arnott – and even former PC leader Tim Hudak when he stopped by for a visit one time – about promising to bring back the old trillium logo.
Truthfully the issue of the trillium matters little in the grand scheme of things. It serves as a reminder that things change and not always for the better. Arguably, cosmetic changes by a sitting government are designed to distract people from larger issues.
At a recent convention in Ottawa the Progressive Conservatives unveiled their new party logo. Reaction has been fairly swift: it is ugly and amateurish.
Far more scholarly individuals than ourselves have tried to make sense of it.
The colours are peculiar choices, the layout is awkward and what is to be made of the green tongue wagging in the centre? Some suggest the effort is being made to rebrand and attract all residents to this “new” inclusive party whether previously the person was Conservative, Liberal or Green. To others it represents the old idea of putting lipstick on a pig.
In addition to our disappointment in this latest logo and the shell game that goes along with rebranding exercises, we had a scary thought.
If the powers that be can come up with something like this and think it’s great, what would the outcome be if it were an issue that actually mattered?
