Mastercard: Masters They Are Not

It took Mastercard a while to follow suit after Visa's re-brand over a year ago, but they have just come out with their newest incarnation, their last re-brand being in 1996, and has come to us with a new name: Mastercard Worldwide. It sounds grand but I think perhaps they over-thought this thing. Their new name, I imagine, is supposed to inform the masses what we already knew, that Mastercard is a worldwide brand, accepted and known almost everywhere. It dosnt have the greatest ring to it but we can forgive that for now. Really what baffles me is this new logo. I can spot that Mastercard venn diagram from a half mile away, I knew what the mastercard logo was before I knew what money was for christ sake, the brand was that strong. They hadnt really strayed from their image since '79, but this? The pseydo lens flaire obsctucts the clear shape of the 2 circles (the Mastercard venn diagram as I lovingly call it) which allows one to spot it in a shop window at 100 paces, and it's pretty ugly, to boot. I can't help but wonder if this will ruin Mastercard's bond with it's cardholders and with the general public.