Amazon changes app icon again, ditching that problematic 'mustache'

The old design was slightly reminiscent of a certain dictator.
By Stan Schroeder  on 
Amazon changes app icon again, ditching that problematic 'mustache'
Left: Mustache. Right: No mustache. Credit: amazon/mashable composite

Amazon's got a new iOS and Android app icon again.

The company introduced a new icon for its mobile apps a month ago, replacing the old "shopping cart" icon with one that combined Amazon's smile logo and a blue adhesive tape strip on a brown background, as a nod to Amazon's shipping boxes.

The problem with that design, apparently, was that the adhesive tape strip looked a bit too much like the mustache of Adolf Hitler, which was noticed on social media. The new design is very similar, but the adhesive tape strip has been redesigned to look nothing like a mustache.

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The new Amazon app icon on iOS and Android. Credit: amazon

Amazon wouldn't officially admit that this was the reason for the change. In a statement to The Verge, the company said it "designed the new icon to spark anticipation, excitement, and joy when customers start their shopping journey on their phone, just as they do when they see our boxes on their door step.”

Frankly, I didn't notice the mustache similarity when I first covered the icon change — though once someone tells you about it, you cannot unsee it. In any case, when your icon design has any similarity to one of the worst persons in history, you probably don't want to wait too long to change it.

Topics Amazon

Stan Schroeder
Stan Schroeder
Senior Editor

Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.


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