Gap scraps logo redesign after protests on Facebook and Twitter

High street retailer Gap has been forced to scrap an expensive new logo days after its launch following an online backlash from consumers.

Thousands of critical comments greeted the new version of Gap's logo when it was launched on the company's website last week.

The American group has now been forced to make an embarrassing U-turn.

Marka Hansen, president of the Gap brand in North America, conceded that the "outpouring of comments" showed the company "did not go about this in the right way".

The original Gap logo, showing the word "Gap" in capital letters inside a dark blue square, was replaced with a white square encasing a small blue square sitting over the letter "p" in "Gap".

The change prompted a public protest, with more than 2,000 comments on Facebook criticising the decision to ditch the well-known logo.

A Twitter account set up in protest collected nearly 5,000 followers and a"Make your own Gap logo" site went viral on the internet, prompting nearly 14,000 parody versions.

Hansen used comments on Gap's Facebook page late last night to say:: "We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we've made the decision to do just that – we will bring it back across all channels.

"We've learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognise that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn't the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing.

"There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we'll handle it in a different way. "

Previous controversial changes to well-known corporate logos include a decision by British Airways in 1997 to replace the union flag on its planes' tailfins with colourful "ethnic" designs.

Lady Thatcher, the former prime minister, was among those less than impressed. "We fly the British flag, not these awful things," she said, covering the tailfin on a model of the new designs with a tissue.

Coca-Cola is credited with almost wrecking its own business with the launch of "New Coke" in 1985. Aimed at getting one over on Pepsi, the exercise was quickly abandoned amid speculation it was all just a marketing ploy.

Closer to home, Royal Mail attempted perhaps the most calamitous corporate rebranding in recent history. In January 2001, the postal service renamed itself Consignia at a cost of £2m – only to reverse the change 16 months later.

Gap has begun a legal battle against a social networking site set up by a former London student over alleged copyright infringment, as the Guardian reported last week.

The retailer, which was founded in California in the late 1960s, is still planning to go ahead with the action against the site, Gapnote.

Lawyers acting for Gap are seeking undisclosed damages from Gapnote, and want it to drop the "Gap" mark from its name.

Gapnote, which is still yet to launch in beta mode, rejects the claims, saying it has no intention of becoming a clothing retailer or trading on the Gap name.

The Gapnote chief executive, Greg Murphy, told the Guardian last week: "We're not going to go into beta until this Gap case is resolved. We can't afford to go to court with them, but I don't want to let them get away with this.

"Gapnote has no intention to use its Gapnote trademark in connection with clothing or other goods. We believe in fairness, freedom and respect for all and not killing a startup's dreams.

"We will do all we can to defend our right to use the name Gapnote."

Gap had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

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