By Joe Leogue

We are Cork... or are we Barcelona? Or are we chefs?

That’s the quandary Cork finds itself in after suggestions that Leeside’s latest branding exercise is more a case of reheated leftovers than a fresh dish.

Following on from the revelation that the We are Cork marketing campaign is costing the county’s local authorities and stakeholders almost €300,000 comes questions over the branding of the initiative — and its resemblance to other, longer-established logos.

After this newspaper’s report on the cost of the campaign, one eagle-eyed reader contacted the Irish Examiner to highlight the striking similarity the We are Cork logo bears to that of the Great British Chefs’ website logo.

The latter depicts 27 individual knives laid out to form a large C. The We are Cork logo is 27 straight lines in a similar layout, also forming a large C.

Asked about the similarities, Cork City Council insisted that what it served up is kosher.

The We are Cork logo was designed by Collaborate — a design company based in Belfast. Once the design concept had been developed by Collaborate a full search covering the Irish and European Union Trade Mark Registers was conducted by IP solicitors on our behalf. The search confirmed that the mark was available to register and use and we went on to register the We are Cork placebrand as an EU trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil city councillor Ken O’Flynn, who earlier this week criticised the level of spending on the campaign, also spotted another similarity between the Cork logo and one in use in Barcelona.

While the Museu de Cultures del Món de Barcelona logo has 31 individual lines, as opposed to Cork’s 27, its style is very similar to the logo unveiled to much fanfare in the Rebel County last month.