In all my 45 years of loving golden syrup in my rice pudding, toast and even in yorkshire puddings I have never noticed what the logo actually was. On hearing this I went straight to the cupboard to check.
You may be thinking now, what Yorkshire Puddings! Well, just try a freshly made pudding and a dollop of syrup, fold it up and put it in your mouth. Amazing!!!
So heres the story that came out today.
The image of a dead lion being swarmed by bees is to be dropped from some of Lyle's Golden Syrup packaging.
A fresh image of a lion's head with a lone bee will grace the packaging of various products, such as the company's plastic syrup and dessert bottles.
The iconic Lyle's Golden Syrup tin will remain untouched in the rebrand, preserving its classic design that has stood the test of time for over 150 years.
This update is aimed at attracting a more contemporary audience, as stated by the company.
The original logo, featuring the biblical quote "out of the strong came forth sweetness," is recognized as the oldest unchanged brand packaging globally, holding a Guinness World Record for maintaining its near-identical appearance since 1888.
The distinctive Victorian-style tins of Lyle's were first introduced by Scottish entrepreneur Abram Lyle over a century and a half ago, coinciding with the debut of the first electric railway.
According to the company's official website, Lyle's strong religious beliefs influenced the logo, which narrates the tale of Samson from the Old Testament. In this story, Samson defeated a lion and later discovered a swarm of bees producing honey in the carcass.
This inspired him to create a riddle: "Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness."
The latter part of this quote was incorporated into the original branding of Lyle's Golden Syrup.
The company's brand director James Whiteley said the firm needed to show consumers it was moving with the times and meeting their current needs.
"Our fresh, contemporary design brings Lyle's into the modern day, appealing to the everyday British household while still feeling nostalgic and authentically Lyle's," he said.
Helen Edwards, adjunct associate professor of marketing at London Business School, said the rebrand would help to reduce the risk of excluding potential buyers.
"The story of it coming from religious belief could put the brand in an exclusionary space, especially if it was to go viral on X or TikTok," she told the BBC.
"But hanging on to some of the original branding is a good idea as people tend to remember brands through visual codes - the green colour, the lion - which remind people 'that's the product I buy, that's the one I like.'"
