Police Encounter Issues with Elon Musk’s Removal of Twitter Logo from Headquarters
Twitter, now known as X, recently underwent an exhilarating 3-day period as it successfully rebranded itself. This involved altering the company logo, redirecting x.com to Twitter, and outlining ambitious plans for a forthcoming ‘super-app’. However, while these modifications were effortlessly implemented online, the company faced challenges in the physical realm. As the microblogging platform’s San Francisco headquarters commenced the removal of the old logo, police intervened and temporarily halted the process, contrary to Elon Musk’s promise of blowtorching them.
According to a report by The Verge, independent photographers who were present confirmed that the police stopped the process of removing the logo. Some claimed it was stopped because the company did not have permits to perform the removal, but local police told The San Francisco Standard, “Through their investigation, officials were able to determine that no crime was committed and this incident was not a police matter.”
The original report mentioned that for now the crane assigned to the task is gone and the “er” has yet to be removed from the logo. Not a good sign for Twitter!
Musk’s vision behind X
While many have highlighted Musk’s fascination with the letter X, from wanting to call Paypal X.com, to using X in SpaceX and branding xAI, to launching the Tesla Model X. On Twitter, however, the plan goes far beyond implementing a silly name change.
Twitter is arguably one of the most valuable and recognizable brands in the world. A drastic decision to change that isn’t something a serial entrepreneur like Musk would take lightly. And if you have followed the course of events, it was not taken impulsively. Twitter registered as X Corp in April, according to the report, and that’s when Musk also started talking about an “everything app” that offers much more than just a social media experience.
The company’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, confirmed the vision in one of her recent tweets, saying, “X is the space of future limitless interaction – focusing on voice, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities. Powered by artificial intelligence, X will connect us all in ways we’ve only begun to imagine.”
If the idea of a super app confuses you, it’s because the model hasn’t been tested well enough in the West. In the East, especially in China, the model has proven to be a big hit. Apps like WeChat or Grab in Southeast Asia are all kinds of apps where users can spend time socializing with others, watch videos and other content from influencers, and if they like what the influencer is wearing, they can even choose that outfit, add it to the cart, and pay for it without leaving the app.
The idea is scary, and creating an app that the user never needs to leave sounds like a logistical nightmare, but Musk has chosen that path, and it will be interesting to see if he can pull it off. At least the advertisers can come back.
