Karens have gotten a bad name in recent years, battered by memes painting them as rude, entitled, and constantly demanding to speak to the manager. The stereotype, which reflects societal conflict grounded in issues of gender, race, and age, was able to coalesce in the name “Karen” because of its popularity among parents of baby girls at a particular time.
Type “Karen” into Namerology’s invaluable NameGrapher, which visualizes U.S. baby name data from the past century and a half, and you can see the name spike into prominence in the 1950s and ’60s, then begin to fall out of favor almost as quickly. Karen had her moment among the top five baby girl names from 1957 to 1966—long enough ago for the name to now serve as a convenient repository for Americans’ most negative perceptions of boomer white women (even boomers in spirit).
A similar pattern takes place in the world of logo design. Seemingly novel logo designs are adopted by companies in adherence to what marketing textbooks dictate: logos should function to differentiate. The result can be an outpouring of logos that may appear distinctive to their respective owners, but in fact resemble one another. And once that novelty of design wears off, those logos may come across as a little dated . . . much like the Karen name.
To some extent, these once-trendy polygon and oval logos may seem stuck in bygone eras. What to do, then, if your company’s logo is a Karen, a Heather, or a Brandon? While most people live out their lives with their given name, firms can more easily change logos if they choose, and the temptation can be strong to replace a Karen logo for a design more modern.
Yet, a case can be made for sticking with a long-standing logo. For one, it’s immediately recognizable as the brand. And two, a strong brand often can overcome even a seemingly dated logo or stereotypic style—much in the way singe-songwriter Karen O, for example, has used her unique style and personality to transcend any resemblance to Karenness.
Also, holding onto an iconic logo can pay off in the most distinctively classic sense. Consider the now iconic Coca-Cola script logotype. When it was designed in 1886, it reflected a common style of the day; now, it’s essentially the sole survivor of that style. Coke’s logo, then, is an “Ida,” a name that was seventh in popularity for baby girls in the 1880s before virtually disappearing. Today, it’s almost a one of a kind.
James I. Bowie is a sociologist at Northern Arizona University who studies trends in logo design and branding. He reports on his research at his website, Emblemetric.com.