August 01, 2023, 05:47 PM
The huge, strobing "X" sign has been removed from the San Francisco building formerly known as the Twitter headquarters.
The towering, blinking X atop the building was just put up a few days ago as part of owner Elon Musk’s bid to rebrand the social media giant.
The X sign is already down from twitter HQ.
— Stop Cop City (@JoshuaPHilll) July 31, 2023
Like all of Musk’s great ideas, he had to walk it back within 72 hours. pic.twitter.com/Zp1sB6p2IN
The rebranded tech firm tangled with city officials over the controversial sign, AP reported.
Local residents complained about the flashing lights emitting from the sign at night.
The complaints can be found online and on the X app itself.
Some had also complained about safety, suggesting the sign did not appear secured to the roof.
The sign got dismantled on July 31.
The sign was put up on July 28.
Complaints
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection and City Planning received 24 complaints about the sign, AFP reported.
The owner of the property where X is renting offices will have to pay the cost of permits to install and remove the sign, as well as the cost of the city’s investigation, it was also reported.
A building inspector first went to the tech firm’s headquarters on Friday, July 28 -- but was not allowed onto the roof to check the sign, according to the complaint posted on a city website.
Instead, an X representative told the inspector that the structure was “a temporary lighted sign for an event”, the complaint showed.
A second attempt by an inspector to check the sign was also disallowed on Saturday.
On Monday, the city sent X a notice of violation warning that it needed proper permits for the sign.
The city website says that such notices can result in fees.
Rebrand
The Tesla founder killed off Twitter’s globally recognisable bird logo in end July 2023.
He hopes to turn the platform into a super app inspired by China’s WeChat, which offers chat and payment functions.
Musk bought Twitter for US$44 billion (S$58.5 billion) in October 2023.
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