With Tesla constantly in the news at the moment, it seems like an appropriate time to revive one of our very favourite logo design stories ever. It was a few years ago when we first spied a hilarious tweet comparing the Tesla logo to something extremely unintended. (It could also be noted that back then it was actually a tweet and not a whatever-it's-called-now. We had no idea just how pertinent even that would become in this context.)
I don't mean to keep you in suspense, but I do think the context of what's happened as time has passed since then just adds to the irony of what I'm about to say. Elon Musk is now firmly tied up with the president who has done the most to reverse reproductive rights – and the logo of his company still looks so much like a contraceptive device. Yup, it looks exactly like an IUD (and not one of the best logos ever). If you've never noticed, it's a brilliant time to realise it isn't it?
Apparently, the idea for the design was actually inspired by a cat's nose (erm, okay) or falcon wings... or maybe part of an engine(reports vary - see our history of the Tesla logo for more) but the internet is awash with hilarity over its similarity to the coil. It's quite likely there was no-one with a uterus on the design team, isn't it?
New people are always noticing this comparison, and this year it feels even more ridiculous. Tesla is known for hiding Easter Eggs in its cars, but this is one the company definitely didn't mean to include. There have been some glorious comments over the years including the ones included below. I recommend looking at the entire Reddit thread, FYI.
The Tesla logo looks much more like an IUD to me than a capital T from r/RandomThoughts
I found this cute little IUD icon, but it turns out it's the Tesla logo. pic.twitter.com/Iyk0FUwHASNovember 15, 2022
Coincidentally the IUD looks like the Tesla logo, and both accomplish the same thing! pic.twitter.com/bV2hxkCSHqMarch 20, 2025
We've covered all manner of Tesla design fails recently, particularly in relation to everyone's favourite it-can't-be-real-at-this-point-can-it Cybertruck – but this is one that endures through it all. If you'd like to catch up on all the Cybertruck news, see our post summarising the main design issues with the dystopian machine sent straight from a sci-fi nightmare. Oh, and here are some car logos that don't look like IUDs.
