Sixers Unveil New Logos With Retro Vibe
It’s very difficult these days not to treat any Sixers news as an excuse for kicking the team that’s spent the last two years tanking. (Deep breath.) Let’s see if we can do it:
The Sixers explain themselves:
• “The team’s new primary logo is a modern interpretation of the classic Sixers insignia, stylistically redeveloped to include a patriotic blue border with six white stars and ‘PHILADELPHIA’ adorned across the heading.” No, we’re not going to make a Camden joke here.
• “The familiar white basketball has been visually updated with a positional rotation of the seams.” Nothing objectionable here, although we fully expect somebody to write a 6,000-word piece on how this secretly reveals Sam Hinkie’s genius.
• “The emblematic ring of 13 stars present in the primary, partial and secondary logos continues to represent the original American Colonies.” We honestly thought it was the over-under on next year’s victory total.
Damn. We tried. And we didn’t even say anything about Jammin’ Ben Franklin, who is clearly intended to be the White-Chocolate Thunder of NBA logo-mascot-visual identity branding. Ben, at least, is getting some strong praise from ESPN:
“The Franklin logo, variously referred to as Dribbling Ben, Running Ben, and Ballin’ Ben, first surfaced last June and was met with near-unanimous praise. So fans were disappointed when the Sixers announced that they wouldn’t be adopting the logo after all. He’s been used on some merchandise over the past year, but nothing more than that,” said ESPN’s Paul Lukas. “Now Running Ben is back, and this time he’s part of the team’s official logo package. He instantly becomes the NBA’s best logo, even though he’s only designated as a secondary mark.”
Enough praise. Say, Sixers PR people! Where can we get our eyes on the new unis that’ll feature these logos?
“The uniforms will debut on June 18th at a public event held from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Center (3601 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA), where attendees will be treated to a series of dynamic digital displays and interactive elements. Sixers legends Billy Cunningham, Darryl Dawkins, Moses Malone, Bobby Jones and Allen Iverson and special guest Barbara Chamberlain-Lewis, sister of the late Wilt Chamberlain, are scheduled to attend, as well as current Sixers players.”
So the PR team can name and feature the sister of a player who last appeared in a Sixers uniform nearly 50 years ago — 1968 — but not the names of any current players the team might want to feature? You know, the guys who will actually be wearing the uniforms that have these logos? They’re afterthoughts?
Ladies and gentlemen: Your 2015-16 Sixers!
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