The Simpsons has built up a reputation for correctly predicting the future and the dramatic rebranding of Twitter could be another event the hit show has got right.
Billionaire Elon Musk, 52, revealed the changes in a series of tweets last week and it is the latest shake-up to the social media platform since he purchased it last year.
The famous blue bird logo has been replaced with an X and the X.com domain now directs users to the Twitter website.
An episode of the The Simpsons from 2012 shows Homer using an app that resembles the new logo.
The scene went viral on social media after eagle-eyed fans spotted it and they were left in disbelief.
The Simpsons has built up a reputation for correctly predicting the future and the dramatic rebranding of Twitter could be another event the hit show has gotten right
A 2012 episode of The Simpsons shows Homer using an app that resembles the new logo. The scene went viral on social media after eagle-eyed fans spotted it
Billionaire Elon Musk, 52, revealed the changes in a series of tweets last week and it is the latest shake-up to the social media platform since he purchased it last year
It aired nine years ago in the episode ‘Ned ‘n’ Edna’s Blend Agenda’ and the plot is based on Ned Flanders secret marriage to Edna Krabappel.
Homer is seen scrolling through his smartphone and there is an app on the home screen which looks extremely similar to Twitter’s new X logo.
There were some photoshopped versions which appeared to show the X logo but these are fake and it was pointed out by fact-checking website Snopes.
The Simpsons is well known for predicting a number of events including the coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump’s presidency.
It has run for 33 years and touched on a wide range of topics over its 750 episodes which makes seem like it has covered absolutely everything.
Musk’s affinity for the letter X in both his professional and personal life has been growing for 25 years, though he has rarely ever given a reason.
Now one of the largest social media apps is known by the singular letter that has long been a Musk obsession.
‘Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,’ Musk recently wrote on Twitter, referencing new CEO Linda Yaccarino.
He renamed Twitter as X on Monday and unveiled a new logo for the social media platform, a stylized black-and-white version of the letter.
Cops were briefly called to Twitter’s San Francisco HQ on Monday after a worker began tearing down letters from the building’s iconic sign a day after Elon Musk rebranded the platform to ‘X’.
Musk has explained his reasoning for the dramatic rebrand of Twitter, telling users he plans to turn the social network and messaging application into an ‘everything app’.
The billionaire said it was time to ‘bid adieu’ to the old logo, and told a user on his platform: ‘Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app.’
Promising that the Twitter rebrand will be more than just a logo change, but a complete overhaul of the app, he added: ‘This is not simply a company renaming itself but doing the same thing.’
Musk is promising to turn it into a one-stop-shop for social media and financial services – which he says means the old name no longer makes sense.
The famous blue bird logo has been replaced with an X and the X.com domain now directs users to the Twitter website
A worker is seen removing the letters from the Twitter sign that is is posted outside the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Monday
Cops were briefly called to Twitter’s San Francisco HQ after a worker began tearing down letters from the building’s iconic sign a day after Musk’s announcement
One of Musk’s first ventures was known as X.com, first launched by Musk as an online banking and financial services platform in 1999. A year later, he was forced to step down from his role as CEO of the firm.
‘Everyone tried to talk him out of naming the company that back then because of the sexual innuendos, but he really liked it and stuck with it,’ said Ashlee Vance, the author of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, about the X.com domain, according to NPR.
Three years later, he made $165 million when the site, by then merged with PayPal, was bought by eBay.
Musk would later buy the domain X.com back from PayPal in 2017. That site now directs people to Twitter.
‘Thanks PayPal for allowing me to buy back X.com! No plans right now, but it has great sentimental value to me,’ Musk wrote on Twitter in 2017,
That domain was Musk’s first major use of the letter X, but not his last.
Musk is also the founder and CEO of SpaceX, which is formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corporation.
He founded the company in 2002 and it recently launched its $3 billion – a test flight which was deemed a great success even after it burst into a spectacular ball of flames.
Musk’s affinity for the letter X in both his professional and personal life has been growing for 25 years
He has explained his reasoning for the dramatic rebrand of Twitter, telling users he plans to turn the social network and messaging application into an ‘everything app’
SpaceX and even NASA all hailed the mammoth new rocket’s maiden flight as ‘exciting’ and a success. Musk was particularly buoyant in the aftermath — vowing to launch again ‘in a few months’.
Tesla, where Musk is CEO, sells the Model X, which went on commercial sale in 2016. The car, a mid-sized luxury crossover SUV is recognizable by its falcon doors.
‘The idea being that the Tesla models would spell out the word ‘sexy,” said Tim Higgins, the author of Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century. However, Ford owned the right to the Model E, which forced Musk to turn to the Model 3 – which is ‘kind of a backwards E,’ Higgins noted.
Musk also infamously brought the letter into his personal life, giving his son the letter as a nickname.
He and his former partner, the musician Grimes, raised eyebrows in May 2020 when they revealed the name of their newborn son: X Æ A-12.
The billionaire is said to have given the little boy, three, the nickname X for short.
Soon after he was named, X Æ A-12 had his name changed to X Æ A-Xii following a violation of California’s naming laws around which alphanumeric characters can be used.
