The health care giant said Thursday that it will replace the well-known signature script it has used since 1887 with a modern look that reflects its sharpened focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
The original script — based on co-founder James Wood Johnson’s signature — will still be seen for now on consumer products like baby shampoo from Kenvue, a new company recently spun off from J&J.
The signature logo was “one of the longest-used company emblems in the world,” J&J declared in a 2017 website post.
But it started showing its age in an era of texting and emojis.
Many children no longer learn to write cursive in school, noted marketing consultant Laura Ries. People may recognize the signature, but they weren’t necessarily reading it, she said. The new logo, she said, is easier to process.
“Because it’s easier, it almost even draws your attention to it,” said Ries, who wasn’t involved in the logo change.
“Everyone washed their baby with Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo,” she said.
A Kenvue spokesperson said the J&J branding on products like Band Aids will gradually be removed.
The signature logo also could be found on bottles of the company’s now-discontinued talcum-based baby powder, which generated lawsuits alleging that it caused cancer. J&J has insisted that the powder was safe.
The consumer business helped J&J become the world’s biggest health care products maker, with annual sales topping $90 billion. But its pharmaceutical and medical device divisions had easily surpassed it in size when the spinoff was announced in late 2021.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
