Amazon has quickly changed its main shopping-app logo, after commentators said the recent redesign made it look like Adolf Hitler.
Launched in January, the icon depicts a strip of blue tape over an Amazon "smile" logo. But some observers said it resembled a toothbrush moustache, associated with the Nazi dictator.
The technology giant has now changed the design to a folded blue tape, following customer feedback.
lmao I completely missed that amazon quietly tweaked its new icon to make it look… less like hitler pic.twitter.com/Jh8UC8Yg3u
— alex hern (@alexhern) March 1, 2021
Amazon told BBC News the first icon had been trialled in a few countries before the change had been made.
Branding agency Coley Porter Bell chief executive Vicky Bullen said: “Unfortunately for Amazon, the visualisation of their parcel tape on the original logo will immediately be associated as a Hitleresque moustache, as that shape is forever embedded in our [subconscious] brains as such - not the best association for a brand that wants to create delight on the doorstep.”
The app logo - which appears on smartphones and tablets - previously showed a graphic of a shopping trolley.
The new design appears to be based on a brown Amazon parcel, with the company's signature smile and blue tape.
Amazon said: “We designed the new icon to spark anticipation, excitement, and joy when customers start their shopping journey on their phone, just as they do when they see our boxes on their doorstep.”
Brand designer Studio LWD founder Laura Weldon said: "Brands change and tweak their logos all the time.
It's clear they care about what their customers say and put the customer at the heart of what they do. That can only be a good thing."