Failed rebrands as Elon Musk replaces Twitter bird with ‘X’ symbol - including Royal Mail and TGI Fridays

Elon Musk confirmed Twitter’s logo has officially been changed from the iconic bird logo to an X after Musk hinted at the suggestion earlier this week. Musk tweeted a three second video showing the letter X, and posted a series of tweets regarding the change.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder, who bought the company last year, tweeted: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the

The logo is now visible on the Twitter website, with the app expected to be updated soon. The former blue logo known as ‘Larry the Bird’ has been Twitter’s logo since its launch 17 years ago in 2006 - with its current design in use for over a decade, first going live in 2012.

Twitter’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, tweeted to confirm the change on Monday. She added: “X is here! Let’s do this.”

A rebrand is a big risk, even for a huge company like social media giant Twitter. Below is a look at a number of companies with failed rebrands in the past.

Failed company rebrands

TGI Fridays

TGI Fridays has been serving food since 1965, and is a favourite for many, however, in 2020, the company underwent a rebrand that didn’t go down well. A change in logo saw them move from their famous red and white to a duller black and white. The TGI was also removed from the logo to just a ‘Fridays’.

The change didn’t last long though, as the name ‘TGI Fridays’ was restored in 2023.

Cardiff City 

In 2012, Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan made the controversial decision to rebrand the historic football club. ‘The Bluebirds’ were known for their blue kit and blue logo, however in a bid to become like the Welsh flag, he decided to change the club’s colours to red.

The rebrand cost the club hundreds of millions of pounds and left fans of the Welsh capital club fuming. The club reverted back to blue just three years late after campaigning by fans.

Weight Watchers 

In 2019 Weight Watchers made a major change to its brand image – renaming itself Wellness and Wellbeing. According to the company, the change was done in the wake of the online ‘body positivity’ movement, as it believed ‘Weight Watchers’ had too many negative connotations.

The new rebrand didn’t go well, drastically impacting the company’s bottom line, with a stock market earnings of less than half. Following the change, they reported a loss of 600,000 members.

British Petroleum (BP) 

In 2000, BP replaced their logo of 70 years and attempted to position themselves as an environmentally aware company. The logo was replaced with “Helios”, which is the Greek Sun God.

However, drilling into the ground for oil is far from being environmentally friendly. The change was deemed as tasteless by audiences due to the catastrophe of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Due to the anger caused, a competition was sparked to create the new BP logo.

Royal Mail 

In January 2001, Royal Mail introduced an entirely new name and branding changing the name to Consignia.

However, the move left many feeling confused and was heavily criticised. The change also left many members of the public believing the company was wrong for straying away from its British heritage. Due to this reception, the brand ultimately changed back to Royal Mail.