No time for research... but I thought LSU paid $60,000 for the creation of the image and could use it for "X" amount of years (Maybe 5). If this is the case and there is enough crap about the current one, Bertman will allow the LSU art department to compete for a new, permanent logo and donate the next $60,000 to an art scholarship. Just my $.02
My cousin is a marketing rep for a large firm in NO. She indicated that there are multiple basic design flaws in the logo. Penny smart...
I believe the administration thinks that Toonces was the combination of the tiger head with body and the swirl. The "new" logo has only the head with LSU in Geaux font - BUT IT IS STILL THE TOONCES HEAD - WHICH IS TERRIBLE. I won't buy anything with the Toonces Tiger. Use the eye of the tiger, the tiger from the helmet, or even the "old school" tiger with the cap...but Toonces must go!! :angryfire
I won't buy anything with just the head, and definitely not the whole body & hurricane thing behind it on it. The logo is okay, but it is hard to tell what it is in most circumstances so I don't buy anything with that on it either. On the rare occasion I find something with the Tiger from the side of the helmet, I'll get it, but otherwise I just stick to LSU written out & no logo.
Many of us Emailed Skip years ago telling him the fans don't like the logo. But it hasn't seemed to have gotten through. But money talks. If people are not buying Toonces (I certainly don't) then marketers are losing money and should let the Athletic Department know. Maybe we should be lobbying Tiger Gift Shop, Co-op Bookstore, and the many other licensed LSU outlets to demand a LSU athletic logo that appeals to customers.
It would be nice if the NCAA license revenue check showed what came from the new logo merchandise and what came from traditional LSU type merchandise. You would think if you were running your merchandising program (like NASCAR Teams do) you would track what your fans were buying and not buying in order to capitalize on your brand.
You don't see the full toonces with the hurricane & all as much anymore. I think the administration tried to appease fans by just limiting it to the head. It was a step up, but not enough. I think they probably have a set date for when they are willing to consider a new design, and it doesn't matter how much fans despise it until then.
I don't think it's too bad... Granted, I like the "old school" helmet logo the best (it should have never been updated, IMO.) However, it's still LSU, and it will still sell. Just think of all of the band-wagon fans that really don't care that the logo isn't the best in college football, all they know is that wearing LSU gear is cool and in-style now that LSU is winning games. I cannot even begin to describe how much LSU gear I see with the new logo. LSU has to be making at least 300% more money off of the new stuff than they ever did with the old stuff. Just the simple fact that the volume of merchandise is so ridiculously high (after 2003) would skew ANY statistic for revenue from the old versus the new. I don't care if LSU changes the logo to a white tiger sporting a pink tu-tu as long as they still kick ass on the field. Some people are too concerned with image. Look at our uniform and helmet, that is all that matters, IMO. It's the classiest in the SEC--by far--and tops in the nation. As for ugly logos, I think Florida's gator head is pretty atrocious (tradition or not,) Tennessee's "T" is pretty plain, as is Bama's "A," Vandy's train is laughable... At least we don't have a tree like Stanford does. Things could be much worse man... we could have toonces AND be the worst team in the SEC. I don't think toonces matters too much being that we're a TOP TEN TEAM IN THE NATION OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS. Despite it all, I think that LSU will eventually revert back to the old school (aka helmet) logo.
I think a big part of the problem is that since this new logo has been on the horizon LSU has had a lot of success in many sports, especially football. So therefore sales are up and the admin. doesn't know that many fans don't like the logo since merchandise sales are at an all time high. Makes it hard to see the forest through the trees as they say.
