This essay examines a trend in brand identity at the time of writing wherein icons of several decades past are resurrected to play to nostalgic feelings associated with a product or service. It begins with a case study of iconography for popular pizza chain logos through several decades alongside definitions of advertising models employed at the time, concluding with the axioms of cultural branding theory. The next section will reexamine the terminology alongside Roland Barthes writing on mythology as a language of semiotics passed through time. The text will then go on to draw parallels between the American fascination with the Wild West in advertising campaigns, with corporations taking on the role of mythmakers to elevate their founders as heroes. The final section of the paper illustrates how these ideas came together in the logo and visual development for Corporal Cythe’s, a fictional funeral parlor turned burger joint represented by an octopus selling mysterious nuggets to children. The corporation’s visual representation evolves through time, although the original intent for the location is never truly gone.
","abstract_html":"<p>This essay examines a trend in brand identity at the time of writing wherein icons of several decades past are resurrected to play to nostalgic feelings associated with a product or service. It begins with a case study of iconography for popular pizza chain logos through several decades alongside definitions of advertising models employed at the time, concluding with the axioms of cultural branding theory. The next section will reexamine the terminology alongside Roland Barthes writing on mythology as a language of semiotics passed through time. The text will then go on to draw parallels between the American fascination with the Wild West in advertising campaigns, with corporations taking on the role of mythmakers to elevate their founders as heroes. The final section of the paper illustrates how these ideas came together in the logo and visual development for Corporal Cythe’s, a fictional funeral parlor turned burger joint represented by an octopus selling mysterious nuggets to children. The corporation’s visual representation evolves through time, although the original intent for the location is never truly gone. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Puno, Rebecca"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Graduate School of Art","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-05-08T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-05-08T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z","subjects":["Art and Design"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/34","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Puno, Rebecca"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate School of Art"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Art and Design"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/34"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This essay examines a trend in brand identity at the time of writing wherein icons of several decades past are resurrected to play to nostalgic feelings associated with a product or service. It begins with a case study of iconography for popular pizza chain logos through several decades alongside definitions of advertising models employed at the time, concluding with the axioms of cultural branding theory. The next section will reexamine the terminology alongside Roland Barthes writing on mythology as a language of semiotics passed through time. The text will then go on to draw parallels between the American fascination with the Wild West in advertising campaigns, with corporations taking on the role of mythmakers to elevate their founders as heroes. The final section of the paper illustrates how these ideas came together in the logo and visual development for Corporal Cythe’s, a fictional funeral parlor turned burger joint represented by an octopus selling mysterious nuggets to children. The corporation’s visual representation evolves through time, although the original intent for the location is never truly gone.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Graveyard Shifts: Unearthing Identity Myths and the Retro Rebrand"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Puno, Rebecca"],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This essay examines a trend in brand identity at the time of writing wherein icons of several decades past are resurrected to play to nostalgic feelings associated with a product or service. It begins with a case study of iconography for popular pizza chain logos through several decades alongside definitions of advertising models employed at the time, concluding with the axioms of cultural branding theory. The next section will reexamine the terminology alongside Roland Barthes writing on mythology as a language of semiotics passed through time. The text will then go on to draw parallels between the American fascination with the Wild West in advertising campaigns, with corporations taking on the role of mythmakers to elevate their founders as heroes. The final section of the paper illustrates how these ideas came together in the logo and visual development for Corporal Cythe’s, a fictional funeral parlor turned burger joint represented by an octopus selling mysterious nuggets to children. The corporation’s visual representation evolves through time, although the original intent for the location is never truly gone.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mfa_illustration/34"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Art and Design"],"dc:title":["Graveyard Shifts: Unearthing Identity Myths and the Retro Rebrand"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate School of Art"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Illustration & Visual Culture"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:17Z"}