Twitter or Titter? Elon Musk drops 'w', San Francisco will have none of it

Last week, a photo surfaced online of the Twitter sign outside the company’s  San Francisco headquarters with the letter ‘W’ covered up, leaving many to speculate it was a digitally altered image. However, on Sunday night, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the photo was indeed real, and further revealed that he made the modification in a witty move to rename the social media platform “Titter,” possibly alluding to breasts.

“Our landlord at SF HQ says we’re legally required to keep sign as Twitter & cannot remove ‘w’, so we painted it background color. Problem solved!” Musk tweeted on Sunday with a photo of the sign.

Our landlord at SF HQ says we’re legally required to keep sign as Twitter & cannot remove “w”, so we painted it background color. Problem solved! pic.twitter.com/1iFjccTbUq

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2023

Had joked about renaming it in the past

In the past, Musk has made jokes about renaming Twitter as “Titter.” In April 2022, he even conducted a poll on his Twitter account to gather his followers’ opinions on the matter. It’s worth noting that at that time, Musk did not yet own the company, but he was already taking steps towards acquiring the social media platform.

Also read: Elon Musk replaces Twitter’s blue bird logo with ‘Doge’ meme

Since acquiring the company in October 2022, Musk has been embroiled in controversy. Initially, he drew criticism for laying off thousands of people. He also implemented changes at Twitter that he believed were freeing, but his critics have argued that these changes have actually made the site worse and deterred advertisers.

Musk’s Leaked private emails have revealed that the billionaire entrepreneur has become a source of concern for some executives, who are apprehensive about being associated with him at an upcoming marketing conference. Musk is likely to be the keynote speaker at the Possible Conference in Miami later this month, but his polarizing image has made some advertisers uneasy about being seen with him.

Also read: Elon Musk open to buying collapsed Silicon Valley Bank

Several advertisers are reportedly anxious about being associated with Musk due to allegations of racism, particularly after he defended comic strip Dilbert’s creator Scott Adams’ call for the return of racial segregation. Adams encouraged segregation in a recent rant on YouTube, calling Black Americans a “hate group” and suggesting that White people should “get the hell away” from them.

It remains unclear why some people may be hesitant to share the same space with him. However, it’s also possible that Musk’s juvenile behaviour, such as his “Titter” jokes, contributes to the desire of major brands to disassociate from him.