TGI Fridays' new rebrand feels like a flop

With lockdown restrictions continuing to ease, some restaurants are preparing to open their doors once again. This includes the restaurant formerly known as TGI Fridays, which is reopening with a brand new identity.

As well as a new, "simplified" menu, the restaurant has a brand new name: Fridays. Gone is the TGI prefix (a nod to the phrase 'Thank God it's Friday'), which has given the brand a celebratory quality since the first TGI Friday's opened in 1965. A new name, of course, means a new logo (below) – and this one probably won't be entering our best logos list. 

Aside from the obvious removal of the vertical TGI letters, the new logo sees the reintroduction of the ornate border that adorned the original TGI Friday's logo (but was shunned for the last major rebrand in 2013). Other than that, it's a fairly bland affair, with a plain sans serif font that doesn't exactly scream Friday to us. The social media version (above) at least manages to convey a touch more character with its red-and-white stripes.

Commenters over at Brand New have also spotted that the Fridays wordmark appears not to have been properly optically aligned inside the border, creating the impression of it having been shifted slightly to the left. 

If we're honest, the new logo is about as exciting as the new name. It's a shame to see TGI go, taking with it a sense of joy. And with many users referring to the restaurant as 'TGI' in response to its tweets, it seems the rebrand could end up causing some confusion among its existing customers. Still, the brand seems determined to shorten its name – 'Friday's' lost its apostrophe in 2013, and now it's no longer thanking the lord. We wouldn't be surprised to find ourselves looking at a new logo for 'Fri' in a few years' time. 

While Fridays hasn't elaborated on the rebrand itself and whether or not it was designed in-house, it claims to be bringing back "that Fridays feeling" (we're not 100% sure that's a phrase) with its new menu. But with its slightly drab name and logo, we're finding this rebrand more fri-nay than fri-yay. 

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