Can you recognize the other company combined in the logo below?

I’m not a soda pop drinker – and I am admittedly two months behind on the news.  So when I recently saw the new Pepsi logo on the side of a Miami building I did a double take.

I blogged here recently about Carnival’s iconic ship funnel, and how it’s design originated from a 1968 Canadian Pacific ship to become Carnival Cruise Line’s widely recognized logo.

For Pepsi’s part, the change is part of a $1.2 billion 3-year repositioning of all PepsiCo brands. Pepsi’s old logo had been used since 1984 as part of “The Choice Of A New Generation” campaign.  The new design’s white band in the middle of the logo will loosely form a smile according to Advertising Age. The Pepsi design also certainly retains the equity of the old logo (the primary importance of a logo is brand recognition after all).

Logos carry a strong symbolic meaning in our culture – we gravitate towards, relate to and promote allegiances and affinities by wearing them.  Just viewing a well recognized logo evokes an immediate feeling. Take a look at these.

How quickly does your brain react with recognition followed by feelings, attitudes and memories?  Certainly this is not something a company wants to get mixed up.

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.  But I believe because Pepsi and Carnival are in two distinct industries there is no potential for conflict (legal or consumer).  Besides one is round and one is rectangular.  The blue and red colors are reversed.  While the similarities are compelling – perhaps this is a case of two great marketing minds thinking alike.