The Clippers on Thursday "handed out thousands of red T-shirts" across the L.A. area to publicize the team's new logo and uniforms -- the "latest step in a thorough rebranding," according to Greg Beacham of the AP (6/18). In L.A., Melissa Rohlin notes the team distributed the shirts at "over 32 locations around Southern California." Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer said that reviews on the new logo "haven't all been positive, but ... that's to be expected." Ballmer: "Change is always hard on some people. ... But the truth is people get through change. If you love the Clippers, you'll love the new Clipper logo." He added that "one of his top priorities" when he bought the team last summer was to "create a new logo." Ballmer: "The number one feedback I got from fans was change, change, you gotta tell people it's time for change. Change the name, change the logo. Change, change, change" (L.A. TIMES, 6/19).
LIPSTICK ON A PIG? ESPN’s Bomani Jones said of the new logo, "They can’t stop being the Clippers just by changing the logo. But hey, it’s worth a try." He added, "That town loves the Lakers; therefore, they’re always going to hate the Clippers no matter what they wear" ("Highly Questionable, ESPN, 6/18). espnW's Kate Fagan: "You can say that a rebrand is completely superficial, but right now there’s not much the Clippers can do” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 6/18). ESPN's Michael Wilbon said, "It doesn’t matter what the Clippers wear; it matters that they play their way out of their history." ESPN's Tony Kornheiser added, "I'm a little bit surprised that they wanted to rebrand and they didn’t go away from the red and blue" ("PTI," ESPN, 6/18).
HATE AT FIRST SIGHT: FS1’s Dan O’Toole said of the backlash the Clippers received after they revealed their new logo, “Now to say the Clippers’ logo reveal went bad would be an understatement" ("Fox Sports Live," FS1, 6/18). The Boston Globe's Bob Ryan said, "It's a hideous logo." He added, "I can't believe he paid five cents to anybody to design that piece of garbage." The Dallas Morning News' Tim Cowlishaw said there is "nothing very creative" about the logo ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 6/18). ESPN.com's Paul Lukas wrote the new designs "are pretty awful." It feels like a "rush job, which in sports branding terms means it was probably done in only one year instead of two." Lukas: "Overall, not good" (ESPN.com, 6/18). In Phoenix, Andrew Joseph writes, "Terrible may be a bit harsh." But the redesign "has been met with overwhelmingly negative feedback." The look "just doesn't make sense." The logo is a "ripoff of every EA Sports video game." The font, logo placement and colors are "eerily similar" (AZCENTRAL.com, 6/18). ESPN's Dan Le Batard said, "The idea that this would be roundly booed isn't surprising in any kind of way" ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 6/18).
LAUGHING ALL THE WAY: The TIMES' Rohlin noted the Clippers in a Funny or Die video "poke fun at themselves" over the logo (LATIMES.com, 6/18). FOXSPORTS.com's Rahshaun Haylock wrote Clippers fans "love their Ballmer ... and he loves them, too." The enthusiasm he shows on a game-to-game basis "was given right back to him" by Clippers fans. Ballmer is "finding more and more ways to make it hip to Clip." The fans "love it" (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/18).
