Explained: Why Amazon was forced to change its new app profile

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After changing the image of its app for the first time in more than five years, e-commerce giant Amazon had to tweak the new design just weeks later after social media users announced that it was similar to the toothbrush mustache famous by the German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Following feedback from users, Amazon quietly released a small update to the image, which was first published in January. “Amazon is always exploring new ways to please our customers. We designed the new image to evoke expectation, joy and happiness when customers embark on their phone shopping journey, just as they do when they see our boxes on their doorstep, ” a spokesman for the company.

Why did the new brand provoke controversy?

In the new logo design, which had begun to appear on several regional app stores, Amazon’s signature curved arrow – made to look like a smile – against a brown background, apparently inspired with the cardboard boxes used to deliver Amazon products. But it was a small blue strip of packaging tape at the top of the new logo that sparked an online storm.

A number of social media users noticed that the rough edges of the blue tape were very similar to Hitler’s standard toothbrush mustache. “It’s not just a torn scotch tape, it’s a torn scotch tape with a similar shape and right on top of a smiling mouth. Looks like a happy little Adolf card to me, ”one social media user tweeted.

How did Amazon respond to the controversy?

On February 22, the company released the updated version of the image on the iPhone, and on Monday, it was updated on Android. This time the blue strip was made to look like a piece of folded tape.

“Attempt 2 of Amazon’s new iOS app brand: now with 15% less Hitler,” a social media user tweeted. However, the company has not addressed whether the subtle design change was a response compared to the Nazi dictator.

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Were other insignia set on fire for Nazi statues?

Several brands have caught fire in recent years for using Nazi images or for selling products that promote hate speech and anti-semitism. Of course, this isn’t the first time Amazon has been controversial for using Nazi images. In 2015, New York underground trains were plastered with posters for Amazon Prime’s show ‘Man in the High Castle’. However, many cyclists complained about the posters, as they featured swastikas and other Nazi signs.

Last July, Shein, a fast-selling fashion retailer, turned its back on selling a “metal necklace” that resembled a swastika. Following widespread criticism, the necklace was removed from the website.

Last month, Marvel made changes to its latest issue of the Immortal Hulk comic after several readers objected to antisemitic images included in the story. A report in CBR.com states that “the name of the shop, written on the back of the shop window, is ‘Cronemberg’s Jewery’, with the famous Jewish symbol of the Star of David in the window”.

It is also not uncommon for customers to file a lawsuit against companies for offensive logos or messages. Recently, e-commerce website Myntra had to change its logo after a Mumbai-based operator lodged a complaint with state cyber police, alleging that signs were a “disgraceful and offensive” company towards women.

The complaint was filed by a woman named Naaz Patel, who founded an NGO called the Avesta Foundation. She filed the complaint in December last year, calling for the logo to be removed and calling for action to be taken against the company. Patel said the old coat of arms resembled a naked woman.

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