Nearly six decades after the Chargers first set up in San Diego, the team announced earlier this week they'd be moving to new digs in Los Angeles, effective immediately. The move was prompted by a fiscal battle; Chargers ownership fought for public funding to build a new stadium in San Diego, which California voters struck down by a margin of 57-43 percent at the polls in November.
Left to decide whether they'd cough up the money or hightail it out of town, Chargers ownership chose the latter. With the move, the Chargers will effectively be tenants in the $2.66 billion stadium currently being built by Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
To help sell themselves in their new market, the Chargers took to social media to unveil a new logo, one eerily similar to that of the Los Angeles Dodgers. So similar, in fact, that Twitter users (including team accounts!) came out in force to let the team know they weren't going to get away with a lazy cut-and-paste job:
'The logo that was revealed on Thursday was meant to help launch our brand into the market and supplement — not replace — our official team marks,' Chargers president of business operations A.G. Spanos said in a statement provided to PFT. 'Clearly, we miscalculated how the logo would be received, and we’ve taken it out of the rotation.'
The overwhelming amount of hate was not lost on Chargers management. They then proceeded to take the bold step of... changing the color scheme?
Eventually, the team wised up. Reports surfaced Thursday suggesting the team was only using the logo as a placeholder for marketing purposes—hey, that's the story I'd stick to if the internet crushed my brand that hard—and appear to be moving in a different direction. Chargers President of Business Operations A.G. Spanos provided a statement to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, in which he admitted the team's mistake:
At least they had the good sense to admit they messed up. But just to be safe, here's some free advice for Spanos and the rest of Chargers management: If you decide to go with a name change in your new city, make sure you select something other than the Rams.
