Elon Musk's rebrand of Twitter to X has been nothing if not controversial--so much so that many users of the platform have refused to ever call it by its new name.
But endangered species conservation organization World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, is leaning into the name change--and expertly leveraging it to bring awareness to terrifyingly fast extinction rates.
WWF Germany is drawing applause online for its expert use of the name change, focusing on a certain iconic bird that has recently gone the way of the dodo, if you will.
In its tweet--or X, or whatever messages posted on the app are called now---the wildlife group used all the various iterations of Twitter's iconic bird character that have been used since the platform first launched all the way back in 2006.
Much like an evolutionary chart, the Twitter bird moves from its 2006 version through all its redesigns in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 until it arrives at its present version--a giant X, as if the bird has gone extinct.
Along with the visual, WWF Germany wrote:
"Protect our animal species before it's too late! Around 1 million real animal species are threatened with extinction."
It's a clever visual that taps into the sentiment many users are feeling right now--that the platform they've known and loved for 17 years has suddenly vanished overnight amid Musk's draconian changes--and uses it to make a vital point about the environmental disaster we're watching unfold.
Another version of the tweet used on LinkedIn provides more bracing information about the topic--that around 1 million real species are in danger of disappearing amidst our current extinction crisis, which WWF says is the worst since the extinction of the dinosaurs.
There's no doubt the meme, created by advertising company McCann Germany, got the point across.
People online, especially on X itself, applauded the organization for the ad--both for bringing awareness to the issue of extinction and snarking at Musk's changes in the process.
Musk's rebranding of X has been wildly unpopular even among business and industry experts, many of whom have argued he has destroyed one of the most recognizable pieces of branding on earth.
Others have pointed out that the X name and logo make the former Twitter look like a porn site. At least WWF have found a way to put a proactive twist on this weird choice.
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