Hasta La Ideas

Following up on our post from last Thursday, reporting on a photo that was floating around Twitter, showing a new, unannounced logo for Home Depot appearing on self-checkout kiosk screens. We, like the rest of the world, weren’t sure if it was an accident, a form of focus testing, or some clever stealth marketing. Turns out the screens were just a bit ahead of the real roll-out and sure enough, it’s now been verified as the retailer’s new identity. They’ve announced it right up top on their site and the go-to source for all things identity, Brand New, has a handful of images showing the new logo in different, newly re-branded contexts (including their Nascar racer). With more than 2,000 stores worldwide, we have no idea how long it will take the company to completely switch over to the new look (even their own corporate site still has the old identity), but we’d assume it’ll be a big concerted effort over the next few months, so be on the lookout. Here’s Brand New’s verdict:

Overall, this is a fantastic evolution for Home Depot and even if it loses a little bit of that blue collar, hardworking, non-designed aesthetic in favor of a more “designed” approach, the new identity still says “Come everyone, and get your toilet, your ceiling fan, and your power tool that you will use one day and then stash in your garage!” Or something to that effect.

Embarrassing Update:We’re a little red faced that we were completely had by all of this. Thanks to a note from Daryl Lang at Breaking Copy, we’ve learned that the whole thing was an incredibly well executed April Fools hoax by Brand New (including the fake Home Depot site we linked to without even thinking it looked out of sorts). So yes, red faced, but also a little giddy in that we haven’t been taken in by an online prank like this in a long time, if ever. So bravos all around. Well played.

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