The Los Angeles Rams have a new logo. It is not good.
So this #Rams new logo hat that leaked on Reddit is legitimate. That’s the new logo. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/mTZMeseS2f
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 8, 2020
Thank you, Charles. It turns out this was only the prototype for a larger rebrand. And while the logo looks a little better in non-hat form and with the yellow incorporated into the horn and some gradient shading:
It still mostly sucks. I have many thoughts. Here’s how they came to me, in order:
1. What?
2. Why?
3. Is this hat meant to be sold exclusively at gas stations? Because it’s casting off a huge “GET 2 FOR $25, ONLY AT FLYING J” vibe.
4. A segmented curve with yellow accents kinda looks like lightning. You know, like this:
5. This is a problem, because a quick look at the hat seems to suggest “LAC.” These are the initials of the Los Angeles Chargers.
6. The Rams should have known this, as they will be sharing a stadium with the Chargers starting in 2020.
7. Was it possible the Rams wanted a hat that works for both tenants of SoFi Stadium? Is this all a ploy to sell 16-week season tickets to football-rabid fans in Los Angeles?
8. I’m not sure those people exist:
Time for another game of "Spot the Los Angeles Chargers fans in an image of a Los Angeles Chargers home game" pic.twitter.com/9g1t7cBMeF
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) September 30, 2018
9. Why did the Rams invent a new logo anyway? They’ve been the Los Angeles Rams since 2016. They *were* the Los Angeles Rams from 1946-1994. They don’t need to sell a new concept to California. They missed that window of credible rebranding. No one noticed. It was fine.
10. Plus, LA had a perfectly reasonable, if not especially notable, logo to begin with!
They swapped out the St. Louis blue and gold for Dodgers-adjacent blue and white after their move. That worked. Everyone knows the good part of the Rams branding is the helmets anyway.
11. Why didn’t they just rip off the Colorado State logo?
That’s a good ram! Importantly, it’s also actually a Ram and not just a circular lightning bolt!
Surely there’s something that could be added to that to make it more “LA.” Put a food truck behind it. Make it completely unable to drive if it’s sprinkling outside. Give it an opinion on matcha. Anything unique and/or stupid would have been better than what the Rams gave us — the hat your forgetful uncle picked up on the way to your birthday party. How old are you now, kid? Eight? Fourteen! Whoa, ho, ho, good for you.
12. Ripping off the University of Rhode Island or Naval Academy’s logos would have been acceptable as well. The latter could be done as a part of proper troop respecting!
13. Or, you know what, just lean into that segmented circle idea. Start calling the Seahawks “Black Mesa.” Promise free agents cake once their contracts are up. Play games underground in a vast testing facility run by varyingly capable robots. Shoot Sean McVay into outer space.
14. Well at least the hat doesn’t also feature a stupid forced catchphra— awwww, dammit.
One of the leaked Rams draft cap photos (now confirmed as legit by @CharlesRobinson) shows the phrase "Time to Shine" — which, sure enough, is trademarked by the Rams: https://t.co/qo4x4Z62B1
— Paul Lukas (@UniWatch) March 8, 2020
Credit @TicoKenitrin for that detail! pic.twitter.com/rlFheIKDNZ
15. Congratulations, Chargers. You no longer have the worst LA-based football logo ever floated on the internet.
Your logo is bad, Rams. Please fix it.