It’s imperative for any company to establish a point of identification while presenting a symbol that visually communicates to the audience. The recognizable yellow arches that form the letter ‘M’ identifies McDonald’s, the swooshing check mark represents Nike, the iconic two-tailed mermaid of Starbucks, these famous logos were so successful at conveying brand messages and values to the market. It just shows that a well-designed logo gets people to stick around and helps build trust by validating the identity of the brand it represents.
Big companies and small businesses alike are willing to spend millions of dollars for a company logo that can establish brand recall with potential clients. But even an ingenious logo design can be subject to misinterpretation. Yes, even the most famous logos are given a different meaning or outlook by some people who mistook the elements as something else. LA-based content creator Freddie Campion shared his own experience of this phenomenon. On a Twitter post, he shared a humorous story of when his wife had thought that Colonel Sanders’ bow tie on the KFC logo was his body in a cartoonish-stick form. Since then, he wasn’t able to ‘unsee’ the tiny stick figure whenever he looks at it.
Famous Logos That Are Hilariously Misunderstood
My wife just confessed that for her entire childhood she thought Colonel Sanders’ bow tie was his whole body and now I can’t stop seeing a tiny stick body every time I look at him. pic.twitter.com/qVad6t93SA
— Freddie Campion (@FreddieCampion) December 16, 2020
And it turns out Campion wasn’t the only one. With his Twitter post going viral, many people started to pitch in with their own funny misinterpretations of popular logos. Be warned though, these false impressions might change the way you look at these iconic logos entirely. And just like Campion, you might not be able to unsee these little misunderstandings. But nonetheless, these hilarious misinterpretations are quite entertaining.
I asked my husband “What gorilla?” & he just looked at me. I never noticed the animals before. pic.twitter.com/Uo14qGTYQT
— nora j (@sasidechick) December 16, 2020
When my youngest was 4 or 5 he kept begging for “high-five guys” from the grocery store. He got VERY angry with us bc we had no idea what he meant. We finally figured out he wanted Annie’s cheddar bunnies. He was looking them sideways and thought they were fat little men. pic.twitter.com/s03Woz2HXn
— Marlon Weems (@GeekTrader) December 16, 2020
Until someone pointed it out to me, I never noticed the bear in the mountain in the toblerone logo pic.twitter.com/eE6jQVXAUl
— zoe?? (@bangtaneggcup) December 16, 2020
When my daughter was little, she asked why they have a dead clown on the box: pic.twitter.com/Mktgdxm7Pu
— ??Theresa?? (@Teeda100) December 16, 2020
As a child I went into a store and asked for a bottle of ‘Zup’ pic.twitter.com/zG3CB9Z53q
— Peter Clark (@clarkzip) December 16, 2020
When my daughter was 2 she would yell out “strawberry “ every time she saw the Canadian Tire logo. pic.twitter.com/FfiOqybpmF
— girlfrommars (@girlfrommars) December 16, 2020
I lived in Fort Worth for about 2 years before realizing that the logo of our zoo is an elephant, not a hula dancing octopus pic.twitter.com/QnHtSOj3bG
— Roman/Ferris/Levi (@specslostshoe) December 16, 2020
My entire childhood I thought the MLB logo was a floating duck and I didn’t understand it. I was not a smart kid. pic.twitter.com/0DESh8vk70
— Nick Lewis 3??7?? (@NickLewis37) December 16, 2020
How about the arrow in the E in FedEx. I never saw it until my son pointed it out… and now it’s all I see. pic.twitter.com/fepI10eHuP
— Christina Olson (@chrisol72) December 16, 2020
? I couldn’t understand why people were wearing black and yellow cartoon teeth t shirts. Then I finally found out it was the new Batman logo (in my defence the yellow “teeth” stand out)? pic.twitter.com/rs34YpWkks
— ?? (@nadiabirm) December 16, 2020
In a similar vein, until just recently I 100% believed that the Hawaiian Punch mascot had antlers for some reason instead of a straw hat. pic.twitter.com/7L6v0OXvib
— It Was My Understanding There Would Be No Math. (@thesporq) December 16, 2020
When I was a kid I thought this was a Chinese word for New York as their logo. pic.twitter.com/KS72zc5lbO
— Robert Willington ?????? (@willington) December 17, 2020
Just wait until you realize that Cap’t Crunch’s eyebrows are on his hat. pic.twitter.com/t8sadBPVW9
— Jon (@LetsGoStrangers) December 16, 2020
Until about my mid 30’s I thought the front feet were his jaws and he had a little white eye. pic.twitter.com/wj0MbVgliA
— Tracie Gloudemans (@racieta2) December 16, 2020
And Jack in the B-fish. pic.twitter.com/j1aURrXWtR
— Doug Wicks (@magictwicks) December 16, 2020
I was like 25 when I realized this was D. When I was a kid, I thought it was a weird treble clef cause all the movies were musical ?? pic.twitter.com/aQjqeiLwY4
— Torin ????? (@toho1988) December 16, 2020
When I was a kid I thought the Montreal Expos logo was the letters “ELB” instead of a script letter M. I also thought “ELB” was was a word in French pic.twitter.com/HonzSTY5pl
— Mike B (@CBJ4Ever) December 16, 2020
My friend never saw the 1 in the old F1 logo and just thought the streaks were supposed to be the one pic.twitter.com/1dFLCAAAZ2
— Justin Gillies (@JAG30997) December 18, 2020
I lived in DC a long time before I realized the Capital Dome is at the bottom of the eagle. pic.twitter.com/1wWIItM7WS
— Chris Mullett (@Cmullett69) December 16, 2020
She’s a genius. Can you ask her to interpret the Starbucks lady. Does she have legs with little crab feet that she’s trying to lift above her head? I don’t get what’s going on here. pic.twitter.com/da5DiBgOYN
— KatDalziel (@KatDalziel) December 16, 2020
I thought the Browning logo (seen on stickers without the name) must have been the symbol for a heavy metal band. I thought it was a pregnant devil woman. Mother of Satan? Hell Child? ? I finally took a picture and asked what it meant. Didn’t see the deer until someone told me. pic.twitter.com/lrQvBjPRDc
— Indivisible (@AmerIndivis) December 16, 2020
On all Dutch trainstations, you’ll find this logo. The text says “mouthmask” depending on which side you approach it, it looks like something else! pic.twitter.com/mvaHv9GW2O
— Lord_Pengwyn_of_Blah!??? (Willy Croezen) (@LordPengwyn) December 16, 2020
My 9 year old daughter recently asked, “I have been wondering…how does that guy drink a soda without any arms?” (A local shop in Helena, MT) ?? omigosh, we laugh every time we pass it. #FinAndClara pic.twitter.com/GTWvqNetn7
— Kisses ? for #Resisters ? (@_Incognito_XoXo) December 16, 2020
I was 25 before I saw the M and B. Just thought it was a generic looking glove. As a Cubs fan I now think their logo is superior. pic.twitter.com/eq2TwsA9Pj
— Dibiasky Comet (@DocBender) December 16, 2020
Thought this was weird Pac-Man eating a pellet until like a few months ago. pic.twitter.com/YJxVLoUF65
— ???? ??????? (@adamshapiro) December 16, 2020
that’s really close to what i thought about the Food Lion logo! I thought the tongue was his snout and he had a little white eye. pic.twitter.com/ci184kEURr
— Christian Pittman (@c_pittman_) December 16, 2020
I thought the USPS logo was a guy facing left with a pointy swoopy hat, kind of like a shadow. Did not see the eagle for like 20 years pic.twitter.com/EYswNrYXIK
— Seven Megan Army (@soulbaby101) December 16, 2020
Source: Twitter