Wendy is growing up, just a little. Fast-food chain Wendy's on Thursday unveiled a new logo—its first refresh since 1983—giving the iconic redheaded pigtailed girl (based on founder Dave Thomas's daughter) a slightly older appearance, rendering the Wendy's text in a less blocky typeface, and removing the reference to "Old fashioned hamburgers" altogether. The company tells the Associated Press that three key elements had to be preserved—the girl, the color red, and the way the Wendy's font swerves up, which executives call "the wave." CMO Craig Bahner adds that having Wendy's pigtails overlap the oval frame brings her forward and makes her more dynamic. My feeling is, the whole thing has gotten softer and more cartoony—and may not do much to bolster the fast-food chain against more sophisticated-seeming chains like Chipotle and Panera. What's your reaction?
UPDATE: Design firm Tesser in San Francisco did the new logo.