From unpopular rebrands to offensive adverts, these logo and
brand redesigns split opinion right down the middle.
Branding, logo design and advertising
have always had the potential to stir up strong reactions, both in the
design community itself and the general public at large. And the spread
of social media means that, nowadays, the news can spread across the
globe in no time at all.
Whether it's a rebrand that causes outrage because it
undermines an already much-loved brand, an advert that provokes a
torrent of complaints or just a widespread dislike for the creative work
itself - there are plenty of examples to choose from. Here are 10 logo
and branding designs that split opinion across the board.
01. BP's greenwash
The BP rebranding initially caused controversy but has become a familiar sight
British Petroleum’s $200m rebrand in 2000 was part of a
concerted effort to bring 'green' credentials to the global oil giant.
Thereafter known simply as 'BP', the company adopted the tagline ‘Beyond
Petroleum’ and a green-tinged 'Helios' mark - but it was met with
considerable public skepticism at the time, with many parodies springing
up. Greenpeace ran a competition to create parodies of the logo - not a great PR win for the energy company
02. London 2012 logo
It seems like an age ago that this logo was causing heated debate
This one's been through the mill for sure. Wolff Olins'
£400k logo was unveiled on 4 June 2007 to an almost unanimous global
chorus of derision - with 80 per cent of people in a BBC poll giving it
the lowest score.
Of course, WO stuck to its guns and in the patriotic haze of
the British Olympic summer it all paid off. Learn about how the logo
was originally put together here, and read a spirited defence of the much-maligned design here.
03. Yves St Laurent goes nude
Who knew a nude Sophie Dahl would cause controversy?
Sporting a provocative, completely nude portrait of fashion
model Sophie Dahl, Yves St Laurent's 2000 ad campaign set switchboards
alight at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), with 948
complaints. The ASA ruled that it was "sexually suggestive" and "likely
to cause serious or widespread offence".
Event promotion
04. Gap's vanilla logo
Gap's attempt at a logo redesign was hastily withdrawn
Arguably one of the most famous design-based PR disasters in
recent years, Gap's woeful attempt to rethink its iconic navy-blue box
in 2010 sent ripples around the world - with absolutely universal
damnation of its suggested replacement, which combined vanilla Helvetica
with a simple gradient. It was withdrawn after a week.
05. Ashley Madison's Superbowl ban
Designed to encourage and facilitate 'discreet'
extra-marital affairs, AshleyMadison.com is a controversial proposition
in its own right. So it's little surprise that its ads have been banned
from the coveted Superbowl slot several times, including in 2011 - when a
betrayed wife rips off her clothes and promptly joins the site to get
her own back.
06. Starbucks pares things back
Starbucks rebrand was more successful than Gap's, but still drew complaints
January 2011 brought the coffee giant's decision to drop
'coffee' and even the word 'Starbucks' from its primary logo, bringing
the iconic mermaid to the fore instead. Dubbed a "natural evolution", it
also heralded the company’s move into different product ranges - but
over 500 complaints were left on the company's blog.
07. Bad manners from KFC
Nudity and sexual provocation is one thing, but five years
on this 2005 spot for Kentucky Fried Chicken attracted almost twice as
many complaints - 1,671 in total. Why? Because the call-centre
operatives in the ad were singing with mouths stuffed with chicken -
which according to enraged parents, encouraged bad manners.
08. Facebook's redesign
Facebook's redesign had its users up in arms
It’s not easy to make changes when you're Facebook. The
social networking behemoth's September 2008 redesign segmented the site
using customisable 'tabs' - prompting a huge backlash, with hundreds of
thousands of users setting up protest groups. The following March,
another major redesign incorporated Twitter-style status updates, but
drew 1.7 million complaints.
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09. Animal cruelty from Paddy Power
This 2010 advert opens with a shot of a Blind Wanderers FC
kit bag, and cuts to a blindfolded football match. A cat runs onto the
pitch and gets booted - leading to 1,313 complaints about animal cruelty
and offence to the blind. The ASA overruled on both counts, believing
the ad to be surreal and light-hearted.
10. University of California's abortive logo
Another logo redesign that received universal condemnation and was withdrawn
Finally, the University of California's very own 'Gap'
moment came in 2012, during which its modernised logo was dubbed a
'toilet bowl' and soundly panned. Created by an in-house design team, it
was designed for communications materials and never intended to replace
the official seal - but the damage was done, and it was withdrawn from
use.
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