The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2010
Gap replaced its 20-year-old logo — and reverted it in six days
Gap unveiled a new logo in October 2010. The backlash was so immediate and vicious that Gap restored the original logo six days later.
Gap Inc. · 2010-10
What happened
In October 2010, Gap, the American clothing retailer, quietly replaced its iconic 20-year-old logo — the blue box with serif 'GAP' lettering — with a new design featuring Helvetica type and a small blue gradient square. The change was intended to modernize the brand.
The backlash was immediate, intense and global. Designers mocked the new logo as generic and amateurish. Social media erupted with parodies and criticism. Customers who had worn Gap's logo as a badge of casual American style felt that the brand had abandoned its identity. The new logo looked like a default template, not a $14 billion brand.
After just six days, Gap reversed the change and restored the original logo, calling the experiment a 'crowdsourcing' opportunity. The episode cost Gap an estimated $100 million in wasted design and marketing spend, plus incalculable brand damage. The case became the definitive example of how not to rebrand: no research, no rollout, no warning, and no conviction.
Why it happened
- Gap replaced a 20-year-old iconic logo with a generic design that looked like a default template.
- The change was announced without warning, research or a transition plan.
- The backlash was amplified by social media, where designers and customers mocked the new logo globally.
- Gap reversed in six days, signaling that the company had no conviction in the change.
The lesson
A logo is not a design choice — it's a brand's face. Gap treated a 20-year-old identity asset as a cosmetic problem. The six-day reversal proved zero conviction.
Aftermath
Gap restored the original logo and kept it for over a decade. The case is taught in design and marketing courses as the definitive example of a botched rebrand. Gap's deeper problem — declining brand relevance — was not solved by either logo.
Sources
- Gap Inc. — Wikipedia (2010 logo redesign)
- Designer Daily — Rebranding Case Study: What Worked (and What Didn't)
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