X Marks The Spot Where Musk Buried Twitter’s Brand

How much does it cost to ruin a brand? Apparently $44 billion, if Elon Musk is any indication. This week, Musk finally completed <a href="https://stuffworthknowing.substack.com/i/135387091/twitter-branding-going-away-in-favor-of-x" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">his planned rebranding of Twitter</a>. The move started back in April, when Twitter, Inc. was <a href="https://stuffworthknowing.substack.com/p/stuff-worth-knowing-april-10-2023#%C2%A7this-week-in-twitter-twitter-inc-is-now-x-corp" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">changed to X Corp</a>. This week, the familiar Twitter bird logo was replaced with a simple, stylized “X” logo. The rest of rebranding was a bit of struggle, however. Most of <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter#tweets" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">the documentation</a> still refers to Twitter and “tweets”. Musk moved to take down the Twitter sign from the company’s San Francisco headquarters, but that project was stalled by the fact that Musk failed to tell the property owners, <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2023/07/24/twitter-sign-being-removed-downtown-san-francisco-office-x/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">causing the police to be called</a>. Once that matter was resolved, a new “X” sign was placed atop the building, a shining beacon in the night. Of course, the issue there is multifold. Permits are needed to erect a sign on top of a historic building, especially one as bright as the X logo. That brightness is also an issue for the folks who live across from the building, as user Christopher J. Beale noted on <a href="https://twitter.com/realchrisjbeale/status/1685353135236403200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1685399749166551040%7Ctwgr%5E9e2fc0780c4e513494305158db6e94abb43aacb4%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fneighbor-elon-musks-new-twitter-sign-blasts-bright-lights-2023-7" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. Complaints have ensued. “Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation,” said Department of Building Inspection spokesperson Patrick Hannan told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-san-francisco-building-x-elon-musk-4e0ae2a3b1b838b744bb2dc494f5b23c" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">the Associated Press</a> on Friday. (Right after this post went up, <a href="https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1686097816551383040" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">the sign was removed</a>.) <a href="https://medium.com/into-the-discourse/x-marks-the-spot-where-musk-buried-twitters-brand-bf901a09ba6">Website</a>