‘Unique Imperfections’: Musk Announces Opportunity To Replace Iconic Twitter Bird Logo

In a series of tweets on either side of midnight Saturday, Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the impending rebranding of Twitter, notably that the iconic bird logo will be replaced.

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk tweeted Sunday at 12:04 am, impressing his latest stamp on the social media site he acquired Oct. 28, 2022 for $44 billion. “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow,” he soon added in a separate tweet. He previously tweeted, “Paint it black,” at 11:31 p.m. Saturday and then conducted a poll at 11:45 p.m. on whether to “[c]hange default platform color to black.”

The proposed changes drew a wide range of reactions. Some users appeared to be in support of the changes, with one tweeting, “People are veeeery resistant to change. But look how quickly they got over your purchase of Twitter. Change is good, just takes time to adjust.”

75% of Twitter users who took Musk’s poll voted for the change at the time of publication. A number of users pitched a variety of X monograms in the hope that Musk would adopt theirs. (RELATED: Elon Musk’s Tesla Finishes First ‘Cybertruck’ Years Behind Schedule)

pic.twitter.com/IwcbqMnQtA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

On the other hand, a user tweeted, “Why do I feel like there is a ‘New Coke’ situation about to happen here?”, referencing the shortlived Coca-Cola rebranding of the 1980s. Another appealed to color psychology, tweeting, “Blue is actually the color that invokes the most trust… Black is somber. It’s your platform, but all other factors considered equal, blue would get the most engagement.”

Musk explained the logo change was “[t]o embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique,” apparently referencing the ancient Japanese philosophy of Wabi-sabi. Musk may have proposed the change to black in acknowledgment of the negative criticism some of his changes to the site have drawn.

Musk appears fascinated with the letter X representing his idea of “the everything app.” His late-1990s online bank, X.com, later became PayPal in 2000 following a merger. He bought back the domain from PayPal in July 2017; it now redirects to Twitter. In 2002 Musk founded SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, reportedly upset from a Russian rocket designer allegedly spitting on his shoes.

He named one of his children X Æ A-12.