We see enough corporate logos in our lives that it’s easy to take them for granted, but we can see little surprises from time to time that remind us how much work goes into them.
Not only is that because the masters of design have a way of making their jobs look easy, but because it’s practically their job to do so. After all, the most recognizable logos tend to keep things fairly simple.
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That said, the people who design them can sometimes slip in clever messages and hidden features that show us just how creative they really are. And while there are many potential reasons why a designer may want to do this, these little Easter eggs are usually slipped in with the interest of creating a subtle association with the brand.
And if it weren’t for one perceptive little boy, one clever detail in the packaging of Toblerones would have been lost on so many of us.
When a woman named Stephanie gave her nine-year-old son his first Toblerone, there was something about it that stuck out for him right away.
As she wrote in a tweet, her son asked a question that blew her mind before he even took his first bite.
That question? “What’s the bear for?”
And much like a sizable number of her followers, Stephanie’s immediate response was “What bear?”
And based on some of the replies her tweet received, it seems that children have a particular knack for discovering this secret bear as an astonished parent discovered when they asked their own son if he knew about this.
In their words, “I just blurted out, ‘Did anyone know about the Toblerone bear?’ And my son replied without raising his head, ‘The one in the mountain? What about it?’ They know things.”
But if you’re staring at that logo and still aren’t having any luck with seeing this bear, Stephanie uploaded a picture in a follow-up tweet that should help.
Yes, it turns out that the box’s depiction of Switzerland’s famous Matterhorn mountain has featured a bear climbing the side of it all along.
I was today years old when I learned this, but it now sticks out clear as day to me when I go back and look at the unedited logo. It’s kind of like that arrow in the FedEx logo, I guess.
And for those who are just as puzzled as to why there’s a bear in the logo as the kid who started all of this, we have an answer.
Toblerone bars are produced in Bern, Switzerland, which the city’s website explains is also known as the City of Bears.
Part of this association comes from the city’s famous Bear Pit pictured here, but it also owes its very name to the animal.
As a result, visitors will quickly notice that bear sculptures and images are found all over the place there.
Apparently, that includes the packaging of its most famous exports.
