Elon Musk saw his rebranding of Twitter HQ hit a snag when police stopped him from changing the sign to X halfway through.
Builders were busy tearing down the iconic blue bird logo on the San Francisco base for the social media giants when they were stopped in their tracks by officers.
The much-publicised rebrand was left hanging just the final letters ‘er’ to the amusement of online commentators.
Local reports had said that police were called because billionaire Mr Musk did not get a permit for the new signage. But the force later put it down to “a misunderstanding”.
San Francisco police later clarified officers responded to “a possible unpermitted street closure”, before establishing no crime had been committed.
Despite the mistake work taking down the sign was halted with the BBC reporting it is unclear when it will start up again.
The blue logo, known as Larry the Bird, has been Twitter’s emblem since its creation in 2006, with the current design in use since 2012.
The rebrand to X is more simply a way for Musk to make his mark on the company, said Tom Morton, global chief strategy officer at ad agency R/GA. “Twitter’s changing name and logo has nothing to do with user, advertiser, or market issues. It’s a symbol that Twitter is Elon Musk’s personal property.
“He conquered the castle, now he’s flying his own flag.”
The new logo garnered mixed reactions from users and sparked confusion about what tweets would now be called, while marketing and branding experts said the rebrand risked throwing away years of Twitter’s name recognition.
The move is the latest in a series of major alterations to Twitter since Mr Musk’s takeover, including the “verified” blue tick status being monetised in April and a temporary limit at the start of July on the number of posts users were allowed to read.
