The Quaker Oats Company has a firm place in American culture, with a history dating back over 130 years. The brand’s mascot, the iconic Quaker man, was actually America’s first registered breakfast cereal trademark in 1877.
Quaker’s brand image is thus one of old fashioned wholesomeness, quality and tradition. Recently, however, it has introduced a new logo, with an added tagline and modernized typography.

The Evolution of the Quaker Man

Mr. Quaker has also found a new home inside the letter Q. Altogether, the logo has a lighter and more updated touch, without the weighty gold embossing, shadows, and multiple gradients of the original. To many, however, the Quaker Man might seem a little squeezed, with his hat poking awkwardly out of the corners of the letter.

The first products to receive the new branding were Quaker’s True Delights, a new line of health-conscious snack bars and breakfast cereals. The light snacks aim to be both healthy and crave-worthy for the modern woman. Its tagline, “Love Life,” is also part of the rebranding strategy that puts an emphasis on the brand’s contemporary relevance.
The Archer typeface used in the logo has been increasingly popular with American companies in recent years. Wells Fargo, Newsweek, and even the United States Government have also adopted this soft slab serif font, which is popular for its “personable, straightforward, and credible” style.
In a recent AIGA Voice article, designer Lauren Adams suggests why this typeface is so alluring: “With unemployment continuing to soar and businesses declaring bankruptcy, with newspapers and magazines folding and personal savings accounts shrinking, Americans, more than ever, crave trust, comfort, friendliness and other fuzzy feelings. Companies are responding, and Archer may be part of the solution.” The font’s simple, hard-working and frank style is especially appealing to American consumers in these economic times.
These fuzzy feelings go back to the original Quaker man from 1877, who originally appeared holding a scroll that said “Pure”—emphasizing the traditional Quaker ethics. Perhaps this is why the company decided on the Archer font, which updates its look while retaining a sense of tradition and comfort. However, visual identity is an important element in brand building, and using such a common typography could lessen Quaker’s brand differentiation. This typeface risks having been overdone, and may backfire Quaker’s attempts to appear more trendy by instead casting it as a stale copycat.
The question is- will this new typeface and logo stand the test of time? Or will it only further emphasize the generic qualities of this historic brand? We’ll have to wait and see.