Elon Musk's Twitter logo removal from HQ runs into police trouble

It has been an exciting 3-day period for Twitter, which is now known as X, as it completed its rebranding exercise by changing the company logo, getting an x.com redirection to Twitter, and planning big moves for a future ‘super-app’. But while the changes were easy to make online, the company struggled to do the same in the real world. As the microblogging platform’s San Francisco headquarters began removing the old logo (instead of blowtorching them as Elon Musk promised), police showed up at the site to temporarily halt the process, as per a report.

According to a report by The Verge, independent photographers present at the site confirmed that the logo removal process was interrupted by cops. While some claimed that it was stopped because the company did not have permits to carry out the removal, the local police told The San Francisco Standard, “Through their investigation officers 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’ still remains to be removed from the logo. Not a good sign for Twitter!

Musk’s vision behind X

While many have highlighted the fascination Musk has with the letter X, from wanting to call Paypal X.com, to using X in SpaceX and xAI’s branding and launching the Tesla model X. However, with Twitter, the plan goes much further than just fulfilling a silly name change.

Twitter is arguably one of the most valuable and recognizable brands in the world. A drastic decision to change it is not something a serial entrepreneur like Musk would take on a whim. And if you have been following the turn of events, it has not been taken impulsively. Twitter was registered as X Corp in April according to a report, and during that time Musk also began talking about an ‘everything app’ that offers much more than just a social media experience.

Company CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed the vision in one of her recent tweets saying, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine”.

If the idea of a super-app confuses you, then that’s because the model has not really been tested well enough in the West. In the East, specifically China, the model has proven to be a big hit. Apps like WeChat or Grab in Southeast Asia, are sort of your everything 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 even have the option to pick that outfit, add it in the cart, and pay for it, without ever leaving the app.

The idea is daunting, and to create an app that a user never has to leave sounds like a logistical nightmare, however, that is the path Musk has chosen and it will be interesting to see if he can make it a reality. At least the advertisers might be back.