On Monday, Facebook unveiled a rebrand, and by that we mean they just typed FACEBOOK with caps-lock on. At times you wonder if some of your co-workers are actually working.
This rebrand, which should probably be in quotes but whatever pick your battles, was announced in a company blog post that further stated a new logo would be introduced to better advertise everything now being offered on the platform.
"Today, we’re updating our company branding to be clearer about the products that come from Facebook," said Facebook chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio in that blog. "We’re introducing a new company logo and further distinguishing the Facebook company from the Facebook app, which will keep its own branding."
NBC notes that this is notable timing from the company since it comes amidst calls from politicians and advocates to bust up the company. On a similar note, Buzzfeed News' Alex Kantrowitz (citing "a source with knowledge of the company's thinking") says that the plan is to prevent further complications with the Federal Trade Commission after a settlement was agreed upon earlier this year between Facebook and the FTC. The idea is that Facebook is more prominently advertising their ownership of apps like Instagram and Whatsapp so that the FTC doesn't consider their disclosure (or lack thereof) to be deceptive.
“Many people don't know we build these products or that our teams often work together,” Mark Zuckerberg said in a post that also went up on Monday. “But we believe people should, because it's important for people to know who's behind the products they use.”
The FTC had imposed a fine of $5 billion against the company back in July after claiming that Facebook had "repeatedly used deceptive disclosures." That fine led Zuckerberg to say that "we're going to make some major structural changes to how we build products and run this company."
In addition to being just the same name capitalized, the logo is apparently "custom typography." An accompanying picture was also unveiled.
It (meaning the logo) will appear on Instagram, WhatsApp, and on other services offered by Facebook, which means it will replace the "from Facebook" messaging that had been in those apps.
Anyway, don't let somebody tell you you couldn't be an executive at one of these companies.
