Sony
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Background
Sony Group Corporation, commonly known as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation formed on May 7, 1946 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan and currently headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional electronic products, the largest video game console company (through PlayStation) and the largest video game publisher (through Sony Interactive Entertainment). Through Sony Music Entertainment, it is one of the largest music companies (largest music publisher and second largest record label) and the third largest film studio (through Sony Entertainment Inc.), making it one of the most comprehensive media companies.
1st Logo (1982-1984)
Logo: On a black background with RGB lights, the Sony logo in chrome is seen as the letters merge back. We then zoom out to reveal the "It's a Sony" campaign logo at the time in red on a white background.
Variant: An extended version exists.
Technique: 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: A short new age-inspired sounder, along with a deep male announcer saying "It's a Sony".
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame.
2nd Logo (1984-1987)
Logo: We see the It's a Sony logo in 3D on a white background. We then zoom in to reveal the Sony logo in silver.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: Same as before.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame.
3rd Logo (1980s)
Logo: On a blue-black gradient background, we see the Sony logo in white. The logo then shrinks and morphs to form the "It's a Sony" logo, also in white.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A pop-synth theme with a female choir singing the line from before.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame.
4th Logo (1980s-1990s)
Logo: Just the white Sony logo on a black background.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: Just the familiar "It's a Sony" announcer, without the new-age sounder.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on most of Sony's international commercials from the time frame.
5th Logo (1986-1988)
Logo: On a black background is the It's a Sony print logo in red, with the "It's a Sony" tagline in Japanese. The text turns into into the Sony logo via a wipe effect.
Technique: 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: A beep, followed by the announcer of the 1st logo.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on Japanese commercials from the time frame.
6th Logo (1988-1996)
Logo: On a black background, brown CGI spheres form the It's a Sony logo in a diamond pattern, which then turns red afterwards. We then fade to the Sony logo in white.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: The familiar "It's a Sony" announcer in most cases. Commercials for Sony cassettes have a different male announcer say "It's a Sony cassette", or just "Sony cassette".
Availability: Extinct. Seen on Japanese and American commercials from the time frame.
7th Logo (1996-2004)
![]() | This logo contains flashing images for the whole duration. |
Logo: We see various, differing shots, each with the word "Digital Dream Kids" on them. It is hard to describe each of them, however, each of them has a different, colorful design and each shot can be seen for a split second until it cuts to another shot. Lastly, we cut to the Sony logo on a black background.
Technique: TBA
Music/Sounds: A futuristic synth along with the "It's a Sony" voice.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame. Japanese commercials used this logo until 2000 where it was followed by the next one below.
8th Logo (2000-2004)
Logo: TBA
Variants: The animation at the beginning changes colors, patterns and text depending on the commercial.
Technique: TBA
Music/Sounds: A random ditty depending on the commercial, followed by the "Sony" voice from before along with a female voice saying the name.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on Japanese commercials from the time frame.
9th Logo (2004-2009)
Logo: On a white background with teal circles, we see the text "like.no.other". We then fade to a teal background, and the Sony logo flashes in.
Variants:
- A black and white version exists.
- Sometimes the URL of the Sony division is seen below, such as Europe.
Technique: 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: A futuristic synth ditty with the voice of "Sony" echoed twice.
Music/Sounds Variant: Sometimes the ending theme of the commercial would play.
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame such as the iconic 2005 "Paint/Colour Like No Other" commercial.
10th Logo (2009-2013)
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The formation of the logo
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The finished product
Logo: On a black background, a multicolored light darkens to reveal the Sony logo in white, similar to the 3rd logo, as the light shrinks to the dot in "make.believe" below.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: Sony's now-famous sounder, which is a "ding" sound in G-major. On international commercials, this is pitched to A-flat. Early commercials have just an announcer saying "Sony", which is sampled from the "It's a Sony" announcer. On American ads, a female voiceover says "Sony".
Availability: Extinct. Seen on commercials from the time frame. Also attached to the end of PlayStation commercials from the time in America.
11th Logo (Late 2013-October 2021)
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The formation of the logo
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The finished product
Logo: On a black background, the light flashes between the "O" and "N" in the Sony logo, in white, which fully lights up the logo.
Trivia: This was also used as Sony's motion logo from 2013 until March 2021. Sony continued to use this logo until October 2021 following the reveal of the company's new motion logo.
Variant: Very commonly, the logo animates at a faster rate, or cut.
Technique: Simple computer animation.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.
Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame. Sony continued to use this logo until October 2021 following the reveal of the company's new motion logo.
12th Logo (May 19, 2021-)
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The formation of the logo (black background with white text)
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The finished product (black background with white text)
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The formation of the logo (white background with blue text)
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The finished product (white background with blue text)
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The formation of the logo (white background with black text)
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The finished product (white background with black text)
Logo: On a black background, a spectrum of colors appear around the Sony text, then the colors fade out.
Trivia:
- This was also used as Sony's current motion logo since May 19, 2021. The concept of this logo can be seen here.
- The motion logo was filmed with practical effects as opposed to CGI, as it was done to capture the effect of the Sony logotype "breaking the boundaries". You can see the behind the scenes video here.
Variants:
- There are two white background versions of the logo that are exclusive to Sony-related promos and commercials. The only differences between these two are the multicolored backdrop and the logo's color (black and blue, respectively). This was because of the use of Sony's Motion Logo Generator software, allowing Sony to create a number of variations, based on various contents and various colors, using a unique system called "Omoiiro", designed by Sony CSL researcher, Alexis André.
Technique: Live-action.
Music/Sounds: Same as before.
Availability: Current. Seen on commercials from the company.