Accommodations service Airbnb revealed a new logo a week after a cryptic announcement, saying that it is a symbol for belonging. However, users all over the Internet saw a sexual interpretation of the logo.
Airbnb only officially revealed the new logo to a select group of dedicated Airbnb users, but before long, the whole Internet community has given opinions on the company's new logo.
"It's a symbol anyone can create, whether drawn on a mirror or etched in the sand," said Brian Chesky, Airbnb CEO. Chesky added that the company drew inspiration from several logos that are famous all over the world, which included the five rings of the Olympics and the heroic Batman symbol.
However, Internet users are quick to point out that the new Airbnb logo has a sexual connotation, with most users seeing it as resembling women's genitalia.
Paul Stafford, the founder of DesignStudio which is the company that worked with Airbnb for the new logo, said that he has heard the many interpretations of the logo. Stafford said that, aside from sexual imagery, he has heard the new Airbnb logo being described as an A+ symbol and running tracks and rivers, among other things.
"It doesn't worry me in the slightest. It's something I've seen before," Stafford said. "Eventually it will be identified with Airbnb. It represents the community and it's the symbol for belonging."
Airbnb refers to the new logo as Bélo, the universal symbol of belonging.
"Belonging has always been a fundamental driver of humankind. So to represent that feeling, we've created a symbol for us as a community. It's an iconic mark for our windows, our doors, and our shared values. It's a symbol that, like us, can belong wherever it happens to be," Chesky writes in the company's official blog.
The company also released Create Airbnb, which allows users to create their own original symbols under Airbnb's shared banner. Users may customize the symbol according to their own names and the location that they are in. The company plans to have Airbnb users mark the places that they visit with their own, customized logos.
The new logo is part of the massive brand overhaul that Airbnb unveiled, detailing the company's new philosophy of "Belong Anywhere" in Chesky's post in the company's official blog. However, the sexual imagery that the company's new logo is evoking is overshadowing the creative and people-centric recreation of the Airbnb brand.
