Valerie O'Neil, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said that the logo is an image of a "twin-tailed siren" (the siren of Greek mythology). The logo has been significantly streamlined over the years. In the first version, which was based on a 16th century Norse woodcut, the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully visible double fish tail. The image also had a rough visual texture. The siren has been likened to a Melusine. In the second version, which was used from 1987-92, her breasts were covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. In the current version, used since 1992, her navel and breasts are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. The original "woodcut" logo can still be seen on the Starbucks store in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and on both the House Blend and Decaf House Blend packaging.
At the beginning of September 2006 and then again in early 2008, Starbucks temporarily reintroduced its original brown logo on paper hot drink cups. Starbucks has stated that this was done to show the company's heritage from the Pacific Northwest and to celebrate 35 years of business. The vintage logo sparked some controversy due in part to the siren's bare breasts, but the temporary switch garnered little attention from the media. Starbucks had drawn similar criticism when they reintroduced the vintage logo in 2006. The logo was altered when Starbucks entered the Saudi Arabian market in 2000 to remove the mermaid, leaving only her crown, as reported in a Pulitzer Prize-winning column by Colbert I. King in the Washington Post in 2002. The company announced 3 months later that it would be using the international logo in Saudi Arabia.
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