Elon Musk got blasted on social media over his controversial decision to ditch Twitter’s iconic blue bird branding — which has become globally recognizable over the past 17 years — in favor of a generic-looking “X” logo.
The Twitter rebrand took place a matter of hours on Sunday, with Musk announcing that “X.com” would redirect to “Twitter.com” and debuting an interim “X” logo. The black-and-white X logo was quickly projected onto the exterior of the company’s San Francisco-based headquarters.
“Elon Musk hasn’t gotten over his X,” Irish YouTuber Jacksepticeye said.
“Call it “Twitter X”, that’s cleaner,” joked the account @HighYieldHarry alongside a shot from the scene in the 2010 film “The Social Network,” where actor Justin Timberlake’s fictionalized version of Sean Parker tells Mark Zuckerberg rename his site “Facebook.”
“They’re changing the Twitter logo to an “X”. Literally the icon I click on when I want to close something on my computer,” comic book writer Dan Slott said.
“People still call our streaming service 4OD so good luck,” British broadcasting network Channel 4 wrote, referring to a name it abandoned in 2015.
“To be fair if I’d done this much damage to a brand in under 12 months I’d also probably change the name and logo. But I’d also change MY name and face and walk into the sea,” wrote comedian Mark Watson.
“It’s a free country. He’s free to change the name to X. And I’m free to keep calling it Twitter,” quipped former GOP congressman Joe Walsh.
Others were more pointed in their criticism of Musk’s decision. Gary Black, the Future Fund co-founder and a noted Tesla bull, openly questioned the logic behind the move.
“I’m struggling with rebranding Twitter to X and losing the little blue bird’s brand equity,” Black said, adding that “advertisers who dislike change may wait to see how the branding change impacts advertising efficacy.”
“I really don’t understand this “X” business. @elonmusk is a forward thinker, and probably has a grand plan, but this one is really hard to see,” added Albert Bridge Capital founder Drew Dickson. “Feels like dumping years of brand value in a single swoop.”
The “X” rebrand was the latest in a series of controversial moves by Musk, who is attempting to lure back advertisers that fled the platform over its loose content moderation practices and to reverse a major loss of revenue that has occurred since he acquired the company.
“X” is also facing its most significant challenge to date from Meta-owned Threads, a text-based social media app that has already garnered tens of millions of user signups since its debut earlier this month.
While the rebrand appeared to catch many users off guard, Musk had telegraphed a looming change for months.
Before purchasing Twitter for $44 billion last year, the billionaire argued the platform would serve as an “accelerant to creating X, the everything app.” Musk also changed Twitter’s corporate name to “X Corp” earlier this year.
Musk is a vocal proponent of the concept of a “super app” such as China’s WeChat, which offers services ranging from payments to food delivery and ride-sharing.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said the shift to “X” was the next step in “transforming the global town square.”
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” Yaccarino said. “Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
A day before he unveiled the rebrand plans, Musk brushed off criticism about his leadership of the company.
“Frankly, I love the negative feedback on this platform. Vastly preferable to some sniffy censorship bureau!” Musk tweeted.