10 Recent Logo Redesigns Gone Wrong

WatchMojo

When brands try to update their image, sometimes they miss the mark completely! Join us as we count down our picks for the logo redesigns that left customers confused, angry, or just plain unimpressed. From six-day disasters to multi-million dollar mistakes, these rebrands prove that newer isn't always better!

Transcript

00:00While our logo and remodels may be making headlines, our bigger focus is still right

00:04where it belongs, in the kitchen and on your plate. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're

00:10counting down our picks for the brands that tried to revamp their logos and ended up wishing

00:16they hadn't. They claim it looks more like the cartoon image of human waste. Gap. In 2010,

00:24after two straight years of tanking sales, this clothing retailer was getting desperate as part

00:31of a rebranding attempt. And with no prior warning to its customers, Gap decided to change the logo

00:37it had been using since 1990. The old logo was simple and classic. The new one was generic and

00:47unprofessional looking and seemed to have no connection to the brand and no clear thought

00:52process behind it. The reaction to the change was swift and vicious. The company was roasted on

00:58social media, and a mock website inviting people to make their own Gap logos went viral.

01:03Still others compared it to a failed low fare spin-off airline and an element from the periodic

01:09table. After spending millions of dollars to implement the new logo, Gap caved and abandoned

01:16it after just six days. MySpace. If a company is dying because all its customers are moving to its

01:25competitors, a rebrand and a new logo probably aren't going to solve the problem. MySpace learned

01:35that the hard way between 2009 and 2011. It was losing millions of users to Facebook,

01:42and in an attempt to breathe new life into the platform, the company redesigned both the sites

01:47and the logo. Needless to say, this didn't work. It comes with a new brand, a new logo,

01:53a new look and feel, and a complete new platform. The new logo was just the word

01:57my, followed by a blank space. If you moused over the logo while on myspace.com, user-generated artwork

02:06would appear. That's kind of cool, but anywhere else the logo showed up, it would just be this

02:12generic text. Unsurprisingly, it only lasted two years. But few, if any, make MySpace their own

02:20anymore. Yahoo. In 2013, after a year of layoffs and leadership turnover, Yahoo announced a marketing

02:28campaign called 30 Days of Change. During it, the company released a new logo every day, although it

02:35was really just the same logo and different fonts. Yahoo! At the end of the campaign, Yahoo unveiled

02:44the version that was here to stay, at least for the next six years. Designers pointed out that the

02:51beveled font didn't fit the brand's identity and made the whimsical exclamation point look out of place.

02:57Yahoo! The design looked like it was created by a student rushing to meet a deadline.

03:04In 2019, Yahoo! changed back to a flat font that better matched its traditional aesthetic.

03:12Weight Watchers

03:13This wasn't just a case of a failed new logo. It was a rebrand that completely backfired.

03:20Weight Watchers was once the top-ranked commercial weight loss program in the country. However, by 2018,

03:27the body positivity movement had gained traction, and more people were looking to improve their health

03:32rather than simply shed pounds. The global wellness company says the new name focuses on overall health

03:38and wellness issues. To keep up with the trend, Weight Watchers changed its name and logo to

03:43WW and added a new slogan, Wellness That Works. The name WW doesn't exactly roll off the tongue,

03:52and it leaves people guessing as to what the company actually does. With the tagline of affirmation of

03:59wellness that works is a great move in our journey to be able to help more and more people lead better,

04:07healthier lives. With competition heating up from GLP-1 medications and free fitness apps, this rebrand wasn't the

04:14solution the company needed. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025.

04:20The highest profile spokesperson, Oprah, also stepped down from its board just last year.

04:26Royal Mail

04:27Mail delivery in the UK used to be run by the government like it is in North America. However, in 2000, the Royal Mail

04:35became a publicly traded company, and its executives wanted a new name and a new logo. What did they settle

04:41on? Consignia. If you think that sounds more like a venture capital firm than a postal service,

04:48you're not the only one. The name Royal Mail had been in use since 1784. It was simple, clear,

04:54and classic, whereas Consignia was weird, hard to spell, and sounded decidedly corporate.

05:01Everyone hated it, even the British Postal Workers Union trying to convince people to boycott the name.

05:06Consignia lasted only 15 months before being changed back to Royal Mail.

05:12J.C. Penney

05:14If you're a multi-billion dollar company, you could hire a top marketing firm to create your new logo,

05:20or you could get a third-year graphic design student to do it. Guess which one J.C. Penney went with.

05:27In the 2010s, sales were slumping as many customers switched to online shopping as part of an attempt

05:33to reinvent itself. In 2011, Penney's took submissions for a new logo from students and professional

05:40designers. They chose what must have been the most generic entry of them all, which was barely

05:47different from the old logo. It's interesting, you see the logo, you will eventually lose the rest of

05:52this and it'll just be JCP. They know they need a makeover. A year later, they switched to a blue box

05:57with the letters JCP. People hated both of these changes, and by the end of 2013, JCP had sent them

06:05to the scrap heap.

06:06In a Twitter message, the company says, tell us what you think.

06:10Jaguar

06:11When times are tough, luxury brands like Jaguar often suffer. It makes sense that they'd want to change

06:18things up in hopes of attracting new customers. However, when Jaguar released its new logo, along with a

06:24bizarre video to promote it, the reaction was probably not what they had hoped for.

06:37The badass Big Cat was gone, and the commercial didn't have a car in sight. If you weren't already familiar

06:44with the brand, you'd have no idea what they were selling. People were quick to mock them on social

06:50media, and the company soon started looking for a new ad agency. But it's still using the boring new logo.

07:01Leeds United FC

07:03You don't mess with sports fans' beloved colors and logos. Leeds United figured that out in 2018.

07:11To mark their upcoming centennial anniversary, they unveiled a new batch.

07:16It looked completely different from the old batch, which had been in use since 1999. And fans lost

07:23their minds.

07:25Absolutely awful.

07:26Those times we've been on paint.

07:28A Change.org petition to cancel the new crest soon racked up more than 77,000 signatures.

07:35Within a month, the club realized their mistake and went back to the old batch.

07:39Cardiff City FC went through a similar scandal after changing leadership in 2012. The new owner

07:46had the audacity to change not just the logo, but the team's colors from blue to red. They lasted three

07:52years before switching back. Hershey. This chocolate company's logo hasn't changed much in the last 100

08:00years. They've used a similar all-caps blocky font in shades of silver and brown since 1910. And unlike most of

08:09the companies on our list, Hershey is still doing pretty well. So, if it ain't broke…

08:15But in 2014, they decided to change things up anyway, adding a little icon of a Hershey kiss at the end.

08:23They don't like it. The revamped look is a flatter, drawn image of the Hershey's kiss instead of the

08:29classic photo image of the candy. Of course, the internet immediately pointed out that the design

08:36looked less like a Hershey kiss and more like a steaming pile of… you know. Others thought

08:43it bore a striking resemblance to every 9-year-old's favorite emoji. Despite the mockery, Hershey is

08:49stuck with its simplified logo.

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09:11Cracker Barrel

09:12Did you know the man on the Cracker Barrel logo is a real person? That's Uncle Hershel,

09:18the real-life uncle of founder Dan Evans. He was a brand ambassador for the restaurant for years

09:24and was immortalized on the logo starting in 1977. That design changed very little over the next five

09:32decades until the company decided to switch things up in August 2025.

09:37In its place, a simpler, more modern design the company says calls back to its 1969 roots.

09:43Sales had dropped in 2020 and hadn't recovered, and the CEO hoped to attract

09:49new business with a sleeker, more modern look.

09:52Our goal is to take what people love about Cracker Barrel and open the aperture a little

09:56bit so that more people love Cracker Barrel.

09:58But Cracker Barrel's most loyal customers don't want sleek and modern. They love nostalgia.

10:04The backlash was immediate and intense, and within a week, Uncle Hershel and the barrel were back on

10:11the Cracker Barrel sign. The new logo really was meaningless, but it was impacted by all the negative

10:17feelings from their core constituency. Which of these redesigns do you think was the most

10:22spectacular failure? Let us know in the comments below.

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