The J&J is planning to rebuild its iconic logo after almost a century

September 18, 2023: On Thursday, the healthcare firm said that it would return the signature script it has used from a century with a modern look that mirrors its pointed focus on pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Gone is the cursive, which was based off the handwritten signature of group co-founder James Wood Johnson, and in its place is the name written in modernized font as the newly spun-off company focuses on medical devices and medications.

Johnson & Johnson itself altered its focus to pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The new look, which includes a different shade of red, aims to recognize J&J’s change into a “pure play health care company,” said Vanessa Broadhurst, a company executive vice president.

The signature logo was “one of the longest-used firm emblems in the world,” J&J declared in a 2017 website post.

But it started showing its age in an era of texting and emojis.

Marketing consultant Laura Ries noted that many children no longer learn to write cursive in school. She said that people may recognize the signature but needed to stand reading it. The new logo, she said, is easier to process.

“Because it’s easier, it almost even pulls your attention to it,” said Ries, who wasn’t involved in the logo change.

“Everyone washed their baby with Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo,” she said.

A Kenvue spokesperson said the J&J branding on products like Band-Aids will slowly be removed.

The signature logo also could be found on bottles of the company’s now-discontinued talcum-based baby powder, which generated lawsuits alleging that it caused cancer. J&J has insisted that the powder was safe.

The consumer business helped J&J become the biggest health care product maker of the world, with annual sales totaling $90 billion. However, its pharmaceutical and medical device divisions had easily surpassed its size when the spinoff was reported in 2021.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J again will rename its Janssen pharmaceutical segment, changing it to Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. Its medical device and technology part will be called MedTech.