Amazon Changes Logo That 'Looked Like Hitler'

Amazon changed its app logo earlier this year—then changed it again following complaints that it looked too much like Adolf Hitler. The logo that replaced the old image of a shopping trolley showed ripped blue tape over Amazon's smile logo, which reminded some users of Hitler's toothbrush mustache. "It’s not just a ripped Scotch tape, it’s a ripped Scotch tape that has a similar shape and is right on top of a smiling mouth," one user said, per the BBC. "Looks like a happy little cardboard Adolf to me." The supposedly Hitler-esque logo and its replacement, which depicts folded tape, can be seen side-by-side here.

Amazon said the new logo was designed to "spark anticipation, excitement and joy when customers start their shopping journey on their phone," but didn't comment on whether it was tweaked because of Hitler comparisons. Hofstra University professor of public relations Kara S. Alaimo tells the New York Times that in the age of social media, "branding experts should be bending over backward to consider all the ways people could misuse or misinterpret their logos prior to launch." The Verge notes that the new logo is being compared to the far less problematic Avatar Aang from The Last Airbender. (More Amazon stories.)