
Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization (2013) - fludlight
https://blog.rjmetrics.com/2013/10/09/our-logo-looks-like-underpants-a-case-study-in-internationalization/
======
badwolf
This is why I think anyone doing a rebrand, logo change, etc... should forego
regular focus group testing and such, and instead get a group of teenage boys.

They will immediately see if your logo is a dick/butt/boobs/swastika/etc... or
if your company name can be taken in a "more vulgar manner"

~~~
econnors
My mom is a strong believer that every expecting parent should poll other kids
about names for their baby. She asked her young nephews about potential names
when she was pregnant and immediately threw out the ones they made fun of.

~~~
notatoad
Having previously been a teenage boy, I'm not sure there's really any benefit
to discarding names that might get made fun of. Having your name mocked is a
pretty inconsequential thing, and probably better than being mocked glfor your
physical appearance or mannerisms.

If kids want to make fun of somebody, they'll find a way. There's always
something.

~~~
yellowapple
Right, but a name is one of those things that can actually be decided ahead-
of-time; no sense in giving the little shits _more_ ammo with which they could
mock your kids.

That is, unless your goal is to "toughen them up" via the "boy named Sue"
strategy.

------
jazoom
Good, entertaining read.

>It appears that y-fronts are a uniquely British phenomenon whose popularity
doesn’t extend far past their borders.

I don't think you can make that statement after sending a survey only to
people in USA and UK. I'm Australian and I definitely see Y-fronts in the
original logo.

Edit: I thought I'd add an interesting point. In medicine we include
"Y-fronts" in the mnemonic to help us remember the order and direction of
structures in the femoral triangle.

[https://radiopaedia.org/articles/femoral-triangle-
contents-m...](https://radiopaedia.org/articles/femoral-triangle-contents-
mnemonic)

~~~
megy
Ha amazing, maybe this guy shouldn't be writing to non-US audiences. Or maybe
his next article can be "A Case Study in responding to A Case Study in
Internationalization (2013)"

There are more than 2 countries out there, and more than 2 countries that
speak english.

------
softbuilder
I once tried to sell a software library as a product. Bad timing, concept, and
execution, so it flopped. The thing I remember most is putting the phrase
"slam dunk" in my initial product announcement. I took a lot of flack about
that from non-Americans. That wasn't so bad, but I let that very temporary
error distract and derail my marketing efforts, and _that_ was a mistake.
Personally, I'd have stuck with the underwear logo and put that energy
elsewhere.

------
bitwize
I have three letters for you if you think this can't happen within your own
borders: OGC

~~~
asteli
Link for reference: [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1901656/OGC-unveils-new-
log...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1901656/OGC-unveils-new-logo-to-red-
faces.html)

Including this gem:

>A spokesman for OGC said: “It is true that it caused a few titters among some
staff when viewed on its side, but on consideration we concluded that the
effect was generic to the particular combination of the letters OGC - and it
is not inappropriate to an organisation that’s looking to have a firm grip on
Government spend.”

~~~
Sharlin
Can't beat British humor.

------
dang
Discussed in 2015:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10499578](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10499578)

And in 2013:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6521138](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6521138)

~~~
mintplant
From their website, looks like they eventually went back to something close to
the original design (and which, really, looks even more like underpants now):

[https://rjmetrics.com/](https://rjmetrics.com/)

~~~
croisillon
they should run a survey in france and be surprised how respondents answer
"slip kangourou"

~~~
mirimir
That's pretty close to a codpiece ;)

------
romwell
The punny section headers are a treat:

"A Brief Problem"

"Getting to the Bottom of This"

"But Y?"

~~~
Aardwolf
More inside the article (not sure if the last 2 were intended):

"it’s a bit of a stretch"

"lingering question"

"laundry list"

------
wolfgke
While from my cultural bias, I cannot see any "Y pants" in the dodecahedron,
the logo of Magento BI (next to "Magento" at the upper left corner of

> [https://rjmetrics.com/](https://rjmetrics.com/)

and also the logo shown in the tweet) looks like - how should I express it -
"a hanging male reproductive organ" to me. The four sides of the hexagon
surround the region of pubic hair.

~~~
vl
And funny enough their updated main logo on the top left with the extra
accents looks exactly like stylized football/soccerball.

~~~
wolfgke
> And funny enough their updated main logo on the top left with the extra
> accents looks exactly like stylized football/soccerball.

Perhaps I studied too much mathematics that I cannot see a truncated
icosahedron

>
> [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Truncated_icosahe...](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Truncated_icosahedron&oldid=848140851)

which is the typical pattern of a soccer ball

>
> [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football_Pallo_valmi...](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football_Pallo_valmiina-
> cropped.jpg)

in a docecahedron:

>
> [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regular_dodecahed...](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regular_dodecahedron&oldid=851508454)

:-)

------
jbscpa
My personal favorite was the 5 1/4 inch floppy disk brand name: Janus

The first time I saw one of these laying on my desk with the first letter "J"
covered up...well, I could never unsee it.

~~~
ekimekim
One previous employer, an analytics company, had their website's title set to
"<Company Name> Analytics". It just so happened that at my browser's default
tab width, this title showed up as "<Company Name> Anal..."

------
21
Could be much worse:

[https://www.boredpanda.com/worst-logo-fails-
ever/](https://www.boredpanda.com/worst-logo-fails-ever/)

~~~
jandrese
I'm pretty sure at least a couple of those were intentional.

------
chris_wot
Ummm... it's not just Internationalization you need to worry about. Sometimes
you should look at the logo from all angles. Literally, in the Office of
Government Control's case...

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1901656/OGC-unveils-new-
log...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1901656/OGC-unveils-new-logo-to-red-
faces.html)

------
xvilka
Story reminds me of Yandex.Browser logo, which looked for many like a woman
thongs on a ball:
[https://hsto.org/getpro/geektimes/post_images/11e/fe1/9bb/11...](https://hsto.org/getpro/geektimes/post_images/11e/fe1/9bb/11efe19bbb12e3d088ac3767fa251fe8.png)

------
whalesalad
Based on the title alone I assumed this was gonna be about Daewoo. Their logo
is regularly compared to a pair of tighty whities (TIL they are also known as
y-fronts).

[http://www.carlogos.org/Car-Logos/Daewoo-
logo.html](http://www.carlogos.org/Car-Logos/Daewoo-logo.html)

------
ajeet_dhaliwal
I grew up in the UK and have never heard of this y front term before, I wonder
if it’s regional. I have heard of briefs and tight whiteys. Based on my
experience people in the U.K. will take the mickey/piss out of things like
this more in general regardless of what it is.

~~~
cup-of-tea
I grew up in the UK and we just called them "pants". Pants are far superior to
boxer shorts but totally unfashionable for some reason. Now people wear "boxer
briefs" which are like more fashionable pants that look a bit like boxers.

~~~
ajeet_dhaliwal
That’s what we called them.

------
wiradikusuma
Wait.

"UK schoolchildren sometimes tease each other with insults like “I bet you
wear y-fronts.”"

Why is it an insult? I'm wearing it now, and I'm sure it's quite common here
(not UK/US).

~~~
zapzupnz
Because there's an implication of childishness (yes, amongst children), that
one might be mollycoddled by one's parents who do not let them move on to more
seemingly "adult" underwear such as boxer shorts.

------
sudeepj
Not exactly a logo, but check out the "Hitler kettle", which was disturbing
and funny at the same time.

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10084348/Kettle-
that-looks-like-Hitler-brews-trouble-for-JCPenney.html)

~~~
soylentcola
I had a similar reaction the first time I was stuck driving behind a Megabus:
[https://i.imgur.com/Xpm7vN2.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/Xpm7vN2.jpg)

~~~
icc97
There's a UK comedian who created a show around trying to get people to view
the moustache as Chaplin's instead of Hitler's [0].

[0]: [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-
entertainment/comedy/revi...](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-
entertainment/comedy/reviews/richard-herring-hitler-moustache-underbelly-
edinburgh-1773849.html)

------
Markoff
it looks more like sport bra than underpants

------
AbdullahAliDCom
hahahaah, man you're hilarious! You should consider writing comedy blogs! I
was chuckling all through out the article

"I bet you wear y-fronts" hahahaha - it is something that I heard a lot
growing up in the UK (and for the record, yes..no, I didn't wear them)

