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Tim Armstrong unveils new logo on Twitter, complete with creepy hashtag.
Tim Armstrong, CEO of Verizon’s AOL unit, used Twitter late on Monday to unveil ‘Oath’, the new corporate identity for the U.S. telco’s merged AOL and Yahoo businesses.
It is fair to say the reaction was mixed.
Some congratulated Armstrong and Verizon, and wished them continued success.
However, many more people pointed out that, as well as a solemn promise, the word ‘oath’ also refers to uttering an expletive, which is probably what a lot of Yahoo members did when their profile information was hacked.
Armstrong also managed to add an unsettling undertone to the unveiling, by encouraging people – via the use of a hashtag, no less – to "#TakeTheOath" this summer.
This was likened to calling on AOL and Yahoo members to swear fealty to the new brand, which did not go down particularly well either.
Billion+ Consumers, 20+ Brands, Unstoppable Team. #TakeTheOath. Summer 2017. pic.twitter.com/tM3Ac1Wi36
— Tim Armstrong (@timarmstrongaol) April 3, 2017
In February, Verizon secured a $350 million discount on the price it agreed to pay to acquire Yahoo – reducing the value of the deal to $4.48 billion from $4.83 billion – in light of the aforementioned cyberattacks.
Yahoo will be merged with AOL, which Verizon acquired in 2015 for $4.4 billion, as the telco looks to become an advertising and online media powerhouse.
Between hacks and awkward rebranding announcements, the only way for Verizon is up, hopefully.
