Lyle’s Golden Syrup rebrand ‘throwing away 141 years of history’

THE rebranding of Lyle’s Golden Syrup has been derided as “feeble and woolly” by a descendant of the firm’s founder who insisted: “Don’t junk a classic.”

Alexander Linklater, whose greatgreat-great grandfather Abram Lyle designed the original dark green and gold packaging of a dead lion being swarmed by bees in 1883, questioned why its makers had decided to “throw away 141 years of proven branding”.

Tate & Lyle Sugars, which owns Lyle’s Golden Syrup, has replaced the logo to show an abstract lion’s face with a single bee flying around its mane.

Lyle’s original artwork references the Old Testament story of Samson tearing apart an attacking lion.

On his return, Samson finds a swarm of bees have created a hive with honey inside the carcass. The packaging features the Biblical quotation: “Out of the strong came forth sweetness.”

It is the world’s oldest unchanged brand packaging and holds a Guinness World Record, having remained almost identical since 1883.

Tate & Lyle rolled out the rebrand across the full product range, excluding the classic tin. Mr Linklater, a 55-yearold journalist and biographer, urged the company: “Don’t junk a time-proven classic design.”

He told The Telegraph: “They are changing something that is both very distinctive and familiar to something generic and woolly.

“The rebranding is a move away from what was a real piece of commercial history. I do not think the feeble, woolly-shaped lion is very good.

“Why throw away 140 years of proven branding?” On Tuesday, Tate & Lyle faced criticism from Church of England members, who claimed the rebrand “eradicates” the Christian messaging in its logo.

Tate & Lyle apologised for the upset and said that religion played “no part” in the decision to change the branding.