In the information age, no rebranding effort stays under wraps for very long.
Such is the case with the new Miami Marlins logo, which leaked months ago on internet message boards and social media. When it was first unveiled, reaction wasn’t kind. Critics knocked everything about the logo, from the 2-dimensional marlin flying out of the M to the busy color scheme that reminded many of the original technicolor Tampa Bay Devil Rays jerseys from the late ’90s. This couldn’t possibly be for real, we all thought at the time, not for a team moving in to a $400 million taxpayer funded stadium that seemingly nobody wanted.
The team’s existing logo and jerseys weren’t all that bad either — black and teal had been very good to the team, clothing two World Series winners. This new logo couldn’t possibly be for real, could it?
Turns out it was.
Last night the team held their great unveiling, answering all of our questions about what the Miami Marlins would be as they moved into a new era. So what do we think about the look?
Take it away, Juliana Hatfield.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QAk2bJFUsNc
Ugly. Just plain ugly.
These are uniforms only a mother could love. Dan Uggla said he felt sorry for the players who are going to be taking the field wearing these duds and honestly, if they weren’t making far more money than I will in the course of a lifetime to wear them, I would too.
There’s the logo, which has already been dissected and criticized to the point where it’s almost surprising that the team didn’t go back to the drawing board after hearing fan reaction. Every one of their jerseys is just plain busy. The home white features orange piping, which while definitely Miami, doesn’t make it any less of an affront to the senses. The wordmarks — and it’s going to be impossible to ignore the fact that the team is from Miami moving forward given that three of the team’s four new jerseys feature the city’s name stretched across the front — on three of the jerseys have a sort of neon sign quality to them thanks to an orange accent on each letter.
Speaking of orange…
Feast your eyes on that one, sports fans.
The Marlins alternate orange jersey might go down as the campiest jersey since the Astros rocked the tequila sunrise jerseys in the 70s. When I first caught a glimpse of it, I actually thought it was a Miami Dolphins baseball jersey. There is nothing that isn’t gaudy about this jersey, from the bright orange color to the orgy of colors on the wordmark and logos. This does not look like a baseball jersey, which is likely why it’ll be one of the best selling in 2012.
Jeffrey Loria said the jerseys were designed with Marlins fans in mind, describing them as “cool, international, Miami”. Having lived in Miami, there’s no disputing that these duds won’t be out of place. The logic is there behind the colors — orange signifying the state’s orange groves, blue signifying the ocean, etc. The team’s new M logo looks like something you might see in neon outside of one of South Beach’s iconic nightclubs which, to an extent, makes it a success in that it wouldn’t be out of place.
That being said, Miami is not an ugly city and these jerseys…well they’re really freaking ugly.
