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So Xtra: Just a bunch of people dunking on the Twitter rebrand

So Xtra: Just a bunch of people dunking on the Twitter rebrand

Against a background of an autumn forest, we see an orange tabby cat with pretty orange eyes. In its mouth is… it’s a dead bird, okay? The bird is yellow with black wings, and the cat is using its li’l white paw to keep this murdered woodland creature in its mouth, and it’s awful but also a fair metaphor for Twitter’s ongoing death and consumption, if you think about it.
Mourn you ’til we join you, Larry.

So, the notoriously business-savvy Elon Musk has decided to bail on over a decade of brand equity by rebranding Twitter to… X. The dude apparently has a thing about the letter X — he’s named a company, a car model, and an actual baby (and a parade of wives and girlfriends) “X” — which, as we all know, should be the main driver of branding decisions.

Because of course he did. At this point, it just makes sense that having grudgingly dropped $44 billion on the site and then firing his employees, trashing his code, chasing off his advertisers, and alienating his core users, he should decide that billions of dollars in brand equity are the next thing to go. And naturally, people have things to say about it.

These are some of my favorite tweets — yeah, folks talking shit about Elon on his own platform — about the rebrand.

From the Professionals

One funny thing to me is that this isn’t even really a rebranding, per se — it’s just a relogoing. Spots all over the site and even the mobile app are still Twitter all over, and the only thing that appears to have changed is the icon and the word “Twitter” on the side of the building. That piecemeal rollout (including the fact that Xitter didn’t even bother getting the appropriate permits before embarking on a construction project on a public street) tells me this is another occasion of Elon announcing a foundational change on a whim and the rest of the company scrambling to satisfy his toddlery notions in a matter of days. Here’s what other industry professionals have to say.

Graphic Design Is My Passion

Now, some have observed that the new logo looks just like a certain Unicode character, or a Monotype character, or something you could download from a stock site for free, and others have had to demonstrate that it isn’t exactly the same. It’s merely a derivative, barely-discernable re-drawing of existing characters and not a direct swipe. So that’s cool. (One note about the logo: We might shouldn’t be too harsh, because it was probably made by a non-professional, since it was the result of an impromptu logo contest, without credit or compensation*, because of course it is.)

The New Logo Is Like…

It’s hard to tell exactly what kind of aesthetic Elon was going for when he chose the new logo from the amassed contributions to his two-day logo contest, but I’m guessing it wasn’t any of these.

Business as Usual

Elon is king of the bad, impulsive business decision that, as noted above, can’t possibly leave enough time to run it through proper channels or run it up flagpoles that could result in moderating ideas (not that he’d listen to them anyway). Thus the company is likely to face all kinds of business repercussions as a result of Elon’s super-cool and unobjectionable choices. Can’t wait for employees to maintain credibility and a non-hostile work environment whilst scheduling meetings in Conference Room s3Xy.

Observations About… Y’Know

Anyone who thinks this perpetual teenager sees the logo’s more salacious implications as a bug and not a feature hasn’t been paying attention.

The Worst One, Though

Easily the most offensive tweet about the entire situation, this buzzword-laden travesty probably isn’t trying to lure you into a crypto scam (probably), but you wouldn’t know by reading it.

Like, ew. Sorry to hear about your dignity, Lind.

Thanks, Elon

So yeah, it’s been a dumpster fire all around, and I’m pretty confident that Elon and only Elon feels otherwise. (Well, him and his devoted crew of adulating pick-me blue checks. But still.)

That said, as an advertising professional, I’d like to thank Elon Musk. He’s provided a great, living example of why even a multi-billionaire, certified quote-unquote-genius business owner still needs to consult a professional when it comes to rebranding.

* Not even Xposure.

…  I’ll see myself out.

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