Does Tony Stark Need a Brand Refresh?

Fictional Brand Analysis

‘Tis the holiday season! This year, I thought I would treat myself professionally by indulging in one of my passions: Pop culture analysis.

While pop culture and marketing cross over quite a lot, I’ve decided to focus on fictional brands and their logos. Throughout books, films, television, and comics, many famous fictional companies and businesses have fizzed, flourished, and failed. So today, I’m taking it upon myself to analyze the branding of some of the most popular fictional companies.

Let the analysis begin!

If you’ve seen a Marvel movie over the past fifteen years, you’ve probably heard of Stark Industries. Run by the charismatic Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, Stark Industries was a weapons developer before Tony had a crisis of conscience and moved away from weapons towards advanced technologies.

With its bold, slanted font and arrow-based imagery, the logo communicates a confident, relentless push toward the future. Perfect for a company specializing in advanced technology!

Or at least it would be. Stark Industries may want to consider a brand refresh. Their logo hasn’t changed since they moved away from weapons development, and since Tony Stark came out as a costumed superhero, one of his inventions, the Ultron robot, nearly took over the world and killed thousands in the process. In fact, within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, multiple villains have been motivated by their hatred for Tony and his company.

With all these negative associations, a refreshed logo, and a new communications strategy, moving away from the aggressive tone of their past branding may be the right call.

From the hilarious Arrested Development sitcom comes the Bluth company, a real estate development firm. Founded by George Bluth Sr., the company was managed by his son, Michael Bluth, following his incarceration for stealing from the company.

While the Bluth Company is beset by problems, its logo is not one of them. The bright, flat colors are slightly retro today, even though they made sense in the early 2000s. And the font placement within a building sends a subtle message: The homes we build are so solid that even our logo lives in one.

Of course, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Bluth Company homes are often shoddily built in poor locations. Coupled with their frequent public scandals, the Bluth Company is a PR disaster. Logo notwithstanding, they may want to focus on the fundamentals of their company, clean up their public image, and communicate their successes as they come – if they come.

If your name is Homer Simpson, there’s only one beer you drink: Duff Beer. Parodying cheap American beers, Duff Beer is heavily marketed and widely consumed throughout the Simpsons universe.

Their logo, consisting of thick, playful, friendly letters spelling out “Duff,” sits inside a white rectangle. Below it, in all caps, is the word “BEER.” It’s not even a parody of Budweiser, with its cursive font and stylized insignia. It’s a parody of Bud Light. The simplicity of the logo carries with it working-class vibes, which make sense for the demographic Duff targets most heavily.

Despite its simplicity, or perhaps because of it, Duff Beer has been a rock-solid brand. They are profitable enough to maintain their own branded theme park, and their spokesperson, the beer-themed superhero Duffman, has only become more relevant as the popularity of superheroes has grown since its conception.

However, in our modern world, Relish Marketing would suggest toning down some of the more hyper-masculine aspects of Duff’s communication strategies. For instance, Duffman appearing flanked by bikini models in commercials could read as misogynist to many Americans.

That concludes our fictional brand round-up! What is your favorite fictional brand? Sound off in the comments below! Actually, we don’t have comments, so here’s a link to our contact form.  We’d genuinely love to hear from you!