Let’s all agree that the new KL branding and tagline logo, looks horrid. The logo work seemed like a result of an in-house design competition, and overall the brand design lacks aesthetics and seriously doesn’t come close to any design rule.
If you haven’t heard about the story, you can read it up here
People on social media are heavily criticizing the brand design and it became worse when it was revealed that the branding & logo cost RM15,000. People started looking for the template which the brand design was created on. A logo generator was even created to recreate the logo. All you have to do is to put in your own text and click on generate to create a similar looking logo. Check that generator out here
On top of that, many individuals and brands jumped on the bandwagon, generated their own version of the brand logo then shared them on social media for some laughs (and possibly some media visibility).

It’s fun to see what people come up with, really!
This brings me to a point.
No publicity is ever bad publicity.
Heck, the whole KL branding thing could be a publicity stunt if they wanted it.

Trends for ‘kl branding & logo’
In fact, the RM15,000 they spent could be very well worth it. The story went viral, the topic was organically shared and talked about among most millennials on the internet & social media. Even better, some are becoming part of the logo by designing similar looking logos for themselves and then sharing it around their network.
No Such Thing As Bad Publicity
Before you go on full hating on me, I’ll be first to agree that that the incident seriously resulted in bad publicity for KL and DBKL. However, there are always opportunities for things to turn around.
The idea that’s there’s “no such thing as bad publicity” implies that even though the negative spotlight is now on DBKL & its mayor, Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Nordin, it also gives them a chance to respond well towards the negative situation and make a better comeback.

Michael Jackson had countless of lawsuits
Some of you might remember the late king of pop, Michael Jackson. With all sorts of bad publicity cases on Jackson, such as child abuse, homosexual abuse, and even financial problems, one would expect his album sales to go down. Instead, the more negative publicity Michael Jackson had, the more albums he sold.
The reason he sold more albums is because despite being the negative attention in people’s minds, consumers also remember about the great music, videos & concerts that he has produced. While the news reports negatively about Michael Jackson, it also gave him a bigger mention/spotlight.
What DBKL Could & Should Do
I’m no expert in managing a city and making public announcements, but I believe that the KL mayor could & should use this opportunity to connect with the angry Malaysian netizens and to win back their trust.
When one person complains, they could be wrong. However, when many people complain, you could be wrong.
So instead of defending the logo, it could be a good time to collect feedback, be open about it and admit. Perhaps they could hold another competition run and open it to people on social media. There can possibly be so many ways that can be done to win back the hearts of Malaysians.
What do you think? What should or could the KL mayor have done? Tell us in the comment section below.