Starbucks Renamed to Sturbucks?! Logo Also Gets a Spiritual Makeover!

On August 12 local time, the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Patent and Trademark Office confirmed that it had recently received name and trademark applications for a coffee shop chain called Sturbucks (spelled exactly that way) - though which option will become the final trademark remains unclear.

Just before that, Russian rapper Timur Yunusov announced on Instagram that he had jointly acquired Starbucks' assets in Russia and would co-manage them with the owner of the well-known Russian catering company Pinskiy & Co and Arsen Kanokov's Sindika company - Kanokov being a Russian senator.

In his post, Yunusov declared his intention to make the brand even better than the world-famous "mermaid" from across the ocean, and invited Russian netizens to help create the new brand name and logo.

According to Royal Bank of Canada, the Sturbucks name application was jointly submitted by Timur Yunusov and restaurant company owner Anton Pinsky.

In addition, Pinsky plans to register three trademarks under his own name: Stars Pinskiy Coffee, Stars Kanokov Coffee, and Stars Coffee.

The Russian Business Council (RBC) later confirmed with the company behind the three trademark applications that they had been filed by the new brand's management, but the final trademark choice was not disclosed. That uncertainty, however, didn't affect the opening schedule.

Even before settling on a name or logo, the rapper had already stated in his post that the chain would open in mid-August. With names and logos now on file but no final pick made, it has been confirmed that the new brand's coffee shops would open to the media on August 16.

Notably, earlier reports said the rapper and the restaurant owner wanted a logo completely different from Starbucks. The original plan was to use a LEGO bear as the new logo and reinvent the coffee chain as a place where singers could meet their fans, with each cup of coffee bearing the singer's autograph. Considering the workload that would create later on, they decided the signatures would be printed by a thermal printer instead.

So why didn't the LEGO bear make the final cut? Possibly because the senator disagreed. Here's how Russian netizens reacted to the new logo (all translated via Google):

Image source: Internet

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