Logos—they’re the concentrated sweat and tears of brilliant artists crafting away to create the ‘perfect’ image representing their client’s brand. After hours and days of toil, deleted drafts, and angry coffee breaks, the final version’s ready. It’s being rolled out worldwide… and that’s when thousands of people report seeing a completely different image than they intended.
When Headspace content director Freddie Campion shared how his wife had thought that Colonel Sanders had a stick body instead of a bowtie in the KFC logo, other Twitter users pitched in with their own hilarious misinterpretations of well-known logos. Check ‘em out below and upvote your fave tweets, dear Pandas. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you—you’ll have a hard time unseeing these! Be sure to share your own misunderstood logo moments in the comments.
This isn’t the first time that Bored Panda has written about people misinterpreting the KFC logo and the stick body now being seared into our minds for a long, long time. I’d forgotten all about it a few months after learning the truth, but Freddie brought everything back. And I knew just who to talk to about all of this. Curious? Read on!

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Those bunnies oughta put on some pounds if you want to fulfill your guess!
I never noticed it until I watched a video on hidden things in logos.
yup, a bit late to the party but the bear is the symbol of Bern The legend goes that, in 1191, Duke Berthold V of Zähringen vowed to choose as namesake the first animal his hunt met in the wood, "Then they caught a bear first, which is why the city was called Bern; and so the citizens had their coat and shield, which was a black bear in a white shield, going upright"
it's because you roar like a bear when the chocolate hurts the roof of your mouth
Haha! Actually bc smthg to do with Bern... I don't remember well. But it sounds far fetched to me, so I'm going to adopt your theory instead!
Load More Replies...Bored Panda spoke about Freddie’s thread with comedy writer, author, and musical comedian Ariane Sherine, who had previously gone viral for her tweet about her friend misinterpreting the KFC logo as well. Twitter users brought Freddie’s thread to her attention as well.
I was incredibly curious to find out whether Freddie’s wife was Ariane’s friend. It sounded like too much of a coincidence. Maybe this was a sign from the Universe? Alas! Ariane confirmed to Bored Panda that there’s no connection between her friend and Freddie.
“They’re clearly kindred spirits though! I should hook them up (though Freddie’s wife might not like that much!),” Ariane joked.
I can't see anything other than a dead clown??? Is it just a clown with x's for eyes or what?
Me too! Also, I had heard of 7 up embarrassingly long ago, before I finally made the connection with "Zup"...
Load More Replies...Grandmas at Czech Republic always used name zup when I was young
Good eye! At that age, seeing a strawberry in the logo is impressive. She might have artistic talent.
I wanted to find out the best way to make myself forget that Colonel Sanders looks like he has a stick body and Ariane made my day with her quips. “Why try to unsee the stick body? Just accept it. Colonel Sanders is like a stick because he doesn’t eat his own products! That is not the body of a man who has eaten much fried chicken,” she shared.
Unfortunately, acceptance seems like the only path forward, dear Readers. Hopefully, we’ll forget all about stick-Sanders over the next few months… until someone else makes a viral thread about the logo. With Freddie’s thread having gotten over 425k likes, KFC couldn’t ask for better exposure.
According to Comedian Ariane, logo designers can try and minimize the chances of their illustrations being misinterpreted by running them past as many people as possible. The bigger the pool, the bigger the chance of spotting that something’s off. However, Ariane hopes they don’t do that because then there’d be no hilarious misunderstandings.
THANK YOU!!! I couldn't get past the giant boots! XD
Load More Replies...Populations can decline due to overfishing and/or pollution...
Load More Replies...Funny how our eyes can trick us and then we can't see anything else. I'm like that with song lyrics too.
It'd be more effective without the motor, because it's the silhouette that's important because it is interpreted by a part of the brain that doesn't speak directly to consciousness - recognises shapes, facial expressions, postures, etc. - and so triggers an unconscious response (which you apply a conscious fiction or theory to in order to explain your reaction to yourself).
Why didn't they use the red w as the w in worth? Never seen this logo until just now. I definitely thought it was a dancing squid or octopus before I read the title. Barely see the elephant.
Took me a while to see it... And I used to live in Fort Worth! Only for like a year though
I can see it if I force it, but I don’t think it’s so duckish that it’s impossible to unsee now.
Load More Replies...I always thought it was a duck hitting a baseball like a half duck half person
His hat and his nose look like an open beak a tad. Took me a sec though, the duck he’s talking about might be somewhere else.
Load More Replies...It’s a chicken who hates laying eggs 🥚 so it’s better to hit them with baseball bat
I don't know why you got downvoted, it really does. In fact I came here to say the same thing
Load More Replies...Marketing student here - yes. This is intentional
Load More Replies...New logo?? How old is the original poster? As mentioned, this is the first iteration of the yellow background from 1966... only the most iconic Batman logo ever.
I would see this logo regularly on the side of a building when the movie came out. It has taken me literally years to see the batman instead of a big mouth with weird yellow teeth.
I still think they're antlers. I sure as hell don't see a straw hat.
Load More Replies...Just in case anyone is curious, the Chinese symbols for New York are 纽约
Just as I was reading this, my 10 yo daughter goes: What a cool Chinese sign.
AND, according to the stripes on his uniform, his rank is "Commander", not "Captain"
Have you seen their record? They are pretty derpy
Load More Replies...That’s just space between the legs and head
Load More Replies...That little white spot is not required in any way shape or form...especially as a sideways teardrop. But it was the client's request.
I always thought the D looked like a G. Still, that is how I see it even though I know it says Disney.
Bad news everyone... it is actually "ELB". It stands for "Expos Lance-Balle" which is "Expos Baseball" in French. Also, the reason they call the Montreal Canadiens "Habs" is short for "Habitants", which is why you have the "H" in the middle of the logo.
No...that’s not correct. It’s EB for Expos Baseball that forms a stylized M for Montreal. A simple google search confirms that.
Load More Replies...for those that don't know the logo (like me) and yes i also read elb first and than saw the M 1200px-Mon...ab-png.jpg
Actually it *is* an e and a b, for "expos baseball", combined and stylized for form a capital M for Montreal.
Montreal Expos Baseball, little red “e”, little blue “b”, and the whole thing is an “M”
Thank you! Now I can see the M! That logo sucks.
Load More Replies...* doesn’t understand* *looks closer* * sees one* *literal shock of relisation*
Bum bum bum, BUm bum bum-bum bum. *car noise* bum bum da da bum bum da bum bummmmmm da da da da bum bum bum Bum Bum(up)
More people did so. I knew it because my dad pointed it out to me when I was a little kid getting addicted to this sport.
It's a Siren, actually. Going off the nautical theme of Captain Starbuck
Load More Replies...In the hidden stuff in logo's video it said that it stands for the fact that she is infact a mermaid or a siren, im shocked too
She is Melusine, the alchemical siren and twin tailed mermaid. I would like to believe the connection is more than just face value.
If those are legs then she is wearing wicked witch stockings!
The double tailed siren is a medieval symbol used in boats the founders saw in a book about maritime legends, they decided to use it because Seattle is a port city and coffee is normally exported by boat
Pretty loose connection to the quality of the coffee. Just my opinion.
Load More Replies...The logo used to show her full tail with a sort of butt shape at the bottom as each side went up, but they changed it because some group of people somewhere thought it was dirty.
Bc they drew her with breast and her nipples were showing.
Load More Replies...Interesting! https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/03/04/mermaid-siren-princess-how-the-starbucks-logo-evolved/
There's a buck and a doe. The buck forms the outline of the doe.
Load More Replies...Where I live people have that on their trucks. I wondered why so many people were into dancing.
I thought I was the only one! A dancer with a wild cape!
Load More Replies...I genuinely thought it was either Kokopelli dancing or a Dave Matthews Band logo for years before someone explained it to me
ok so the "ear" of the deer would be the devil woman's head. the nose part of the deer's face would be her arms doing that pregnant lady standing position that everyone does, and it's neck is her bump
Perhaps because you didn't know at the time what brownings were used for...
I saw the mask face immediately. It took me longer to see the, um, other thing.
The sign is on the floor then? We are looking at something straight down?
Me and mike pences fly are now officially boys
Load More Replies...Mind your business! We just had this discussion on BP like 2 days ago.
Load More Replies...To be fair, I never understood how people can smoke hands-free. It doesn’t get in your eyes and burn?
Wow, that's such a great design! I saw both the letters & the picture straight away. It's simple & to the point but unique enough to be memorable. Sorry, as someone with a graphic design passion I'm geeking out over this! It's genius!
I'm embarrassed to admit that, even though I grew up in Milwaukee and went to a LOT of games, I didn't see this until I was at least 40.
Load More Replies...A friend wants to know... if it's for the 'Cubs' why is there an 'M' and a 'B'? 'B' for bear?
In line with your avatar/user pic, BM traditionally stands for Bowel Movement.
Load More Replies...I know it isn't there logo. The dude said he was a cubs fans.
Load More Replies...You can create that sound by inserting your little finger into your ear up to the first joint and moving it up and down at a moderately rapid pace.
Load More Replies...I don't believe this person thought this. Sure you can see it, but they tell you. You couldn't miss that.
I was born and raised in Atlanta and I can say that it has always been easier to see the Pac Man than the hawk.
Funny, I saw the hawk immediately; we are all wired so differently.
Load More Replies...Croatian MP-special unit have the similar logo, and I'm still calling them "The Pacmans"...
It is basically a silhouette of a hawk, hence the name Atlanta Hawks.
Load More Replies...Wait that's not what that is I THOUGHT THAT WHEN I LOOKED AT IT TOOXD
-me looking at it for 30 mins trying to figure out what everyone is talking about-
this is news to me. i had no idea that was a tongue 😂 i’ve always seen it that way until now. wow i’m dumb
Back in the seventies, the chain was called Food Town, and was only in North Carolina. No lion anywhere.
Food Lion is actually the Belgian chain Delhaize, who's always had the lion as a logo. They must have taken over your local Food Town, together with other local supermarkets throughout the US.
Load More Replies...I'm SO GLAD this one is here. I always thought it was a man delivering mail. I'm in my thirties and just realized it's an eagle lol
New to this logo (Canadian) and struggling to see it. In your interpretation, what is the eagle's head? A backpack?
Load More Replies...In there defense it could be a silhouette of trump. His hair is kinda similar
Doubles as a motorcycle helmet for postal agents who ride their Captain America motorcycles to deliver that Express Mail!!
Yes, because it's healthy to drink water after a good game of soccer.
The t-shirts make up the black body,, the scoops at the ends are the necks and the poke out parts (outlined in white) are the sleeves
Load More Replies...It might be because in Russian a t-shirt is called "footbalka", meaning soccer and not american football.
Load More Replies...I never noticed the T shirts....I swear I have spent my life in total oblivion
Until Thanksgiving this year, I thought the NBC logo was a sunrise, but no! It's a peacock, to represent when they brought in colored television. That's why a little triangle (that I swear was NEVER there before) is out of the side of the purple thing. Needless to say, I was in shock for the rest of the week.
I laughed so hard when one idiot complained that NBC had changed its logo to have a rainbow in it in honour of gay pride and why couldn't they just shut up about politics, etc etc. Some people really aren't good at paying attention...
Load More Replies...The Canterbury clothing company logo is weird. I always saw the three 'c's, my friend always saw the three kiwis (then we realised it's both!)
Until Thanksgiving this year, I thought the NBC logo was a sunrise, but no! It's a peacock, to represent when they brought in colored television. That's why a little triangle (that I swear was NEVER there before) is out of the side of the purple thing. Needless to say, I was in shock for the rest of the week.
I laughed so hard when one idiot complained that NBC had changed its logo to have a rainbow in it in honour of gay pride and why couldn't they just shut up about politics, etc etc. Some people really aren't good at paying attention...
Load More Replies...The Canterbury clothing company logo is weird. I always saw the three 'c's, my friend always saw the three kiwis (then we realised it's both!)
