'Sounds like a porn website': Twitter users lampoon Elon Musk’s 'X' rebrand
Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk announced on Saturday that he intends to update the company's logo to an "X," perhaps as soon as Monday, which triggered a torrent of ridicule and mockery by the beleaguered platform's users.
"Soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk tweeted. He added later at night that "if a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow."
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino confirmed that the update is indeed happening, writing, "There's absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything. @elonmusk and I are looking forward to working with our teams and every single one of our partners to bring X to the world."
READ MORE: Elon Musk announces 'temporary limits' on how many tweets users can read: report
Musk, meanwhile, asked, "Now that 'Twitter' will be known as 'X.' What should we call 'Tweeting'?" He also warned that "we are in the final hours of Twitter before we move to X… Any last words?"
Some subscribers responded with consternation.
United States Representative Ted Lieu (D-California): "I remember when the Cleveland Browns made a big deal about changing uniform colors. They were still mediocre. Twitter is a worse product now not because of the bird logo, but because @elonmusk elevates conspiracy folks like the pizza gate guy. Twitter X doesn't change that fact."
Veteran journalist Kara Swisher: "Rebranding HBO to Max was the dumbest rebrand in recent history. Elon: Hold my beer and/or whatever is being partaken at 3 am."
6 News Australia founder Leonardo Puglisi: "Elon Musk changing Twitter's name to X - destroying all brand recognition and turning it into something that sounds like a porn website - is the most Elon Musk thing possible."
The USA Singers: "Elon Musk likes the letter X because it's practically a swastika."
Outspoken: "As I said in May, Twitter, Inc. is now X Corp. Elon Musk will now change the bird logo to 'X', and probably tilt it in such a fashion to resemble a swastika."
New York Health Campaign Executive Director Melani D'Arrigo: "Elon Musk rebranding Twitter to X is the same as female white supremacists rebranding themselves as Moms for Liberty. It doesn't change or hide a thing."
Comedian Gabe Sanchez: "Elon Musk erasing Twitter’s logo and rebranding the company as 'X' is quite simple to understand. Elon can't ever claim he created Twitter…but he can claim he 'created' X. It's a very dumb business decision by someone with a very fragile ego lol."
Economist and author Patrick Chovanec: "In Elon Musk's defense, unlike so many other large corporate CEOs, he didn't pay consultants millions of dollars to rebrand Twitter as X. He came up with this dumb idea himself, for free."
READ MORE: Elon Musk confirms misgendering 'allowed' on Twitter after site cancels right-wing documentary
