What about the Starbucks mermaid?
In 2006, Valerie O'Neil, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said that the logo is an image of a "twin-tailed
siren [sic.]".
[59] The logo has been significantly streamlined over the years. In the first version, which was based on a 17th-century Norse
woodcut,
[57] the Starbucks siren was
topless and had a fully visible double fish tail.
[60] The image also had a rough visual texture and has been likened to a
melusine.
[61] In the second version, which was used from 198792, her breasts were covered by her flowing hair, but her
navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. In the current version, used since 1992, her navel and breasts are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. The original "woodcut" logo has been moved to the Starbuck's Headquarters in Seattle.
At the beginning of September 2006 and then again in early 2008, Starbucks temporarily reintroduced its original brown logo on paper hot-drink cups. Starbucks has stated that this was done to show the company's heritage from the Pacific Northwest and to celebrate 35 years of business. The vintage logo sparked some controversy due in part to the siren's bare breasts,
[62] but the temporary switch garnered little attention from the media. Starbucks had drawn similar criticism when they reintroduced the vintage logo in 2006.
[63] The logo was altered when Starbucks entered the
Saudi Arabian market in 2000 to remove the mermaid, leaving only her crown,
[64] as reported in a
Pulitzer Prize-winning column by
Colbert I. King in
The Washington Post in 2002. The company announced three months later that it would be using the international logo in Saudi Arabia.
[65]