Walmart calls out Kanye West for Copycat logo

We never expected to publish two articles on the Kanye West logo in so many weeks, but here we are. And while last week’s story was a collaboration with one of the world’s biggest brands (Gap, if you missed it), this week sees a conflict with another giant. Yes, unfortunately for West, global powerhouse Walmart took issue with a recent patent filing for West’s Yeezy brand.
The sun logo in question (below) is a collection of dots, ordered in the shape of the sun’s rays. Walmart says it is far too similar to its own sun logo and will create “ confusion ” and a “ false suggestion of connection ” with the Walmart brand. Maybe West’s brand needed our logo design guide.
The design is described in the file as “eight dotted lines, each comprising three completely shaded circles, with a total of 24 circles, arranged at equal angles like the rays of the sun”. When placed next to the Walmart logo above, it looks incredibly similar, but obviously Walmart only has six lines, which are a lot thicker. Plus, it’s made of dots rather than straight lines.
We think this is a complicated question to dissect. While the images above look extremely comparable, especially in their general shape, it should be noted that the Walmart graphic is shown here in black lines, which makes it more similar than the yellow found on signage, for example ( as below). But the black online version could be seen on printouts (like receipts or other official documents) – which could be confusing, one guess?
Walmart says the problem isn’t just the actual design of the logo, but what Yeezy will use it for. There is a (massively) long list of use cases encompassing the retail space, including clothing and retail services, music sound recordings and streaming, video games, hotel services and more – many of which could apparently be included in Walmart’s retail realm.
But according to Walmart, it’s not just the retail aspect that could be confusing. The fact that the retail giant “ frequently partners with celebrities to create special lines of products and services ” could prompt consumers to assume a connection when they see the logo design, which complicates matters further.
We look forward to hearing the decision on this matter. We’re pretty sure it won’t be as clear as Chanel’s recent disappointment with her case against Huwaei’s new logo design (which was really weird), or Amazon’s objection to the logo on this. charity shop – but we might be wrong.
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