I like conspiracy theories. I don't consider myself a theorist, but I do love reading about what others see in the clouds.
I remember my first encounter with a conspiracy theory – it was shortly after John Lennon was killed and it involved the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album. The theory was that Paul McCartney died years ago and someone else had been impersonating him. The cover supposedly depicted his funeral scene. John Lennon was dressed in white to represent God, George Harrison was dressed as the undertaker and "Paul" was barefoot, representing death (not sure how lack of shoes equates to death, but I was a kid and it was powerful.)
A few years later I came across another fascinating theory -- that Procter & Gamble were devil worshipers.
This is a fairly well-known conspiracy theory and one that was the topic of a recent article about corporate logos in Fortune magazine. The article discussed the reasons behind some logo makeovers – P&G being one of them.
According to the article:
"The logo P&G used when it launched in 1851 pictured a man in the moon with 13 stars, representing the original American colonies -- à la the original U.S. flag. But critics later claimed the stars connected to form "666" and that the curls were in the shape of devilish sixes as well.
P&G chopped off the old man's bearded curls in 1991, and then two years later, the company trashed the pictorial logo altogether for the simple initials it uses today. "While it's unfortunate that they had to change for the reasons they did," Murphy says, "I think the 'P&G' logo is a strong mark."
To learn more about the reasons behind logo makeovers, visit Fortune's article "What's in a new logo?"
Traci Purdum
Senior Digital Editor