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Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

blog.rjmetrics.com

51–60 of 115 posts

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#51
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, wonderfully divided by a common language!!!! :) "Fanny" is a great cause of transatlantic fun too. And if you are a Brit in the US, never ever say, "Im diving out for a fag". You're gonna get some odd looks.

My British in-laws always have a good laugh when we go by the "Frugal Fannies" store in the States.

Reading that in British English: coffee, meet keyboard.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#52
It's funny how things like this only look like another object once someone mentions it. For example, when my step kids were little, they used to constantly ask about the "underwear" signs posted all over the place. Couldn't figure out what they were talking about, until I had them point it out sitting at a red light.

The traffic lights have stop signs that are folded down, and get unfolded when there are problems with the signals. So the bottom half of a white octagon does look like a pair of briefs.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#54
post #6

I would not have said pants to start with, but now its been said, all I can see is pants. [0] Maybe this is more about the power of suggestion 0. UK, where pants is pants and not trousers. ;) Edit: Also, pants is a UK way of saying rubbish. So, "that web site is a load of pants", might be said. Might be a sense of humor at work here.

> . UK, where pants is pants and not trousers. ;)

I made this mistake once when I spent a summer in Ireland in high school. (I should add here that the people at this summer program were noticeably more homophobic than I was used to back home[0]) I had borrowed a pair of "trousers" from a friend for a costume for some event.

When asking permission from the RA later that night to go to a different dorm after lights-out, I told him, 'I need to give his pants back'.

I will never forget the look of horror that he gave me.

[0] Not sure if it's a cultural thing or just the program I happened to be at, but either way, it's relevant.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#56
post #49
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen them smack dab in the middle of boston.com "The Big Picture". You basically can't look at more than a few of the photos without answering a google survey question. For me, looking at this page now asks me who my auto insurance provider is with: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/10/broken_lives_of_fuk...

It must be blocked by AdBlock, because I've never seen one. I'm realizing now I'm missing a pretty large part of the web, by using AdBlock and Ghostery: most social share buttons, ads, Disqus comments… I should probably go on the unadulterated web one day a month, just to see what it looks like.

I don't have adblock either and I haven't seen any. I'm probably not a target group for any survey.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#57

Wouldn't an association with pants be better than a mere geometric shape? If it stays in ones memory for longer, then why the hell not? It's all about being recognized by the customer!

That reminds of that commercial for the Universal Technical Institute. It's funny hearing that guy tell me all the great things about "UTI". I probably wouldn't remember the commercial if they had some other boring acronym.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#59

I don't see any underwear, but the thing definitely looks better with thinner lines. It brings out the 3d shading more. Presumably that's why more people recognise the geometry after the change.

I had the same issue, couldn't see the underwear at all. And finally after seeing the people in pictures, I can see. Internalization requires a lot of effort.

Re: Our Logo Looks Like Underpants: A Case Study in Internationalization

#60
It's odd that no one has mentioned this, but part of the reason no American thought they looked like "Y-fronts" is because American briefs don't have a Y-front. I have never seen underwear that looks like the first and third example on the rjmetrics site. If you do a comparative images search for "briefs" and "y-front" I think it'll be pretty obvious.
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