Twitter Name And Blue Bird Logo To Be 'blowtorched' Off Company Branding

Mercurial billionaire Elon Musk has ditched the Twitter brand name in favor of a white "X" on a black background, and is kicking the blue bird logo out of the nest to signal a world-bending shake-up at the biz.

Musk has referred to the company as X Corp since he bought Twitter for $44 billion in October, and tweeted at the weekend – late on Saturday night or early Sunday morning depending on your time zone – that plans were afoot.

"And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand, and gradually, all the birds," he said, following this up with: "If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we'll make go live worldwide tomorrow."

Recently appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino then confirmed this morning that it was happening. "X is here! Let's do this," she said, before posting a picture of the new logo being beamed onto Twitter's San Francisco HQ.

Lights. Camera. X! pic.twitter.com/K9Ou47Qb4R

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 24, 2023

In a Twitter Spaces audio chat, Musk said the new branding "should have been done a long time ago," adding: "We're cutting the Twitter logo off the building with blowtorches," in reference to its HQ.

The blue bird was described on Twitter's website as its "most recognizable asset" and "that's why we're so protective of it." Just as with the blue tick, changes in Elon's empire often take time to bed in.

The rebrand is a risky bet, according to Mike Proulx, Forrester VP and Research Director. "By changing Twitter's app name, Elon Musk will have single-handedly wiped out over 15 years of a brand name that has secured its place in our cultural lexicon," he said.

"This is an extremely risk move because with 'X', Musk is essentially starting over while its competition is afoot."

In recent weeks, Meta launched Twitter rival Threads, which generated a record-breaking 100 million downloads in its first five days and has since raced past 150 million downloads. That said, data from Sensor Tower indicates daily use has plunged more than 75 percent since its July 6 debut.

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Musk has made no secret that he likes the letter X, has called his new AI business xAI, and has also been very vocal about intending to make Twitter or X the "everything app," similar to WeChat.

"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. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we're just beginning to imagine," said Yaccarino last night.

"It's an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square," the CEO added.

Or it won't. The reason Yaccarino was brought on board to run Twitter is that Elon already has his hands full with leading Tesla and SpaceX, and his vision for the future of Twitter has left some advertisers running for cover.

Ad revenues generated by the platform have halved since Musk took over, perhaps caused by the more toxic content. Alterations to the service that made it less consistent such as the tick service or viewable tweet volumes, and a stream of negative news around unpaid bills for rent, IT, and severance for laid-off workers likely haven't helped. Those things aren't addressed by a new brand.

Either way, as Elon said yesterday: "X.com now points to twitter.com." The new brand certainly brings a new meaning to X advertisers, X staff and X users. ®