Brands binned or blasted

2012 Olympics

Wolff Olins’ logo for the Games, held in London, drew ridicule. Almost 50,000 people signed a petition to get the Tetris design scrapped, but Sebastian Coe, the chair of the Games’ organising committee, said: “We don’t do bland.” The logo stayed.

Gap

A sales slump after the 2008 global financial crisis nudged the clothing retailer into ditching the logo that had served it well for 20 years. But after widespread criticism the estimated $100m rebrand was recalled in just six days – perhaps the fastest such U-turn ever.

Royal Mail

In the rush to look trendy as the digital age beckoned Royal Mail decided it needed a millennial makeover. In 2001 Consignia was born, replacing a brand in existence since a public mail service was set up in 1635. Sixteen months later Consignia was scrapped, leaving Royal Mail with a £2m rebranding bill.