To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Starbucks is serving drinks from cups bearing their original logo for the month of September. The logo (top right) shows the Starbucks mermaid in full, complete with split tails and bare chest, unlike the more streamlined version that is usually seen in their stores.

BloggingBaby mentioned that a Seattle area school saw some problems with the more detailed logo. The principle or an elementary school in Kent, Washington has asked teachers to make sure that the logo on their coffee cups is completely covered up if they bring it into school. A spokeswoman said that the principle "thought that it could be distracting for students."

Some students, like one 12-year old, said that students would definitely talk about the logo if they noticed it and said that the rule was a good idea. Parents in the area largely thought it was unnecessary, especially considering the very small size of the logo on the cups, and commenters at BloggingBaby felt the same way. Schools, they felt, have bigger problems to worry about than an inch high drawing on a coffee cup that isn't particularly scandalous.

Some of you may recall a post last month about a pending lawsuit filed against PepsiCo by Glaceau, makers of vitaminwater. Glaceau claimed that PepsiCo's new SoBe Life Water (left) too closely copied their own vitaminwater (right) in it's trade dress, which included the label, bottle and clear plastic cap. Last week, PepsiCo agreed to change the packaging of Life Water in a settlement reached in a New York federal court. The terms of the settlement remained confidential. Glaceau had also initially complained that the ingredients of Life Water too closely mimicked those in vitaminwater, but reports on the settlement haven't mentioned any changes aside from packaging. BevNET and Yahoo! have more.

The Sun-Maid raisin girl is going digital. She is one of the most recognizable brand faces there is, having been almost unchanged since 1916, with only small updates made every year. The real-life Sun Maid maid was Lorainne Collette, who was discovered in Fresno, California, drying her long hair under a red bonnet. The wholesome, natural image of the Sun-Maid raisin girl went well with the company's message that their raisins are all natural, made with just "grapes and sunshine." But the maid is getting her biggest makeover ever this year: she's going digital.

The modern girl still has the same long hair and red bonnet, but now she does yoga on the Sun-Maid website in addition to promoting her grapes. She is younger and curvier than before. There is talk of giving her a name.

Like some people, including ad executives interviewed by the SF Chronicle, I think that the digital girl is a little creepy, though growers are apparently meeting her with enthusiasm. If she looked a little less computer-generated and a little more natural, she might fit with the “as nature intended” image of the brand a bit better, but if Sun-Made’s goal is to modernize, they’re probably on the right track

[Images SF Gate]

There are 120 McDonalds restaurants in Israel and all of them purchase only kosher ingredients. Only 19 of the restaurants are entirely kosher, or kashrut. This means that they do not sell any dairy products whatsoever, making them no-risk restaurant destinations for those diners who keep kosher. There was concern from some rabbis that diners might be confused at the difference between the two types of McDonalds, thinking that none of them serve dairy products. To alleviate fears, McDonalds has offered a redesigned logo for the 19 restaurants. The famous red and gold will be replaced by blue and white, and the McDonalds logo will be printed only in Hebrew, with the word "kosher" appearing in English on the menu.

Starbucks Corp. recently emerged victorious over a chain of Chinese coffee houses with names and logos that the Seattle-based coffee giant felt too closely resembled their own. The Chinese company went by the name of Xingbake. "Xing" means star and bake, pronounced "bah kuh," sounds a bit too much like Starbucks, apparently. The logos are a little curious as well.

According to the recent ruling, Xingbake will pay Starbucks Corp. $62,000.