TikToker Emily Zugay has piqued the interest of major brands like McDonald’s and Amazon. They too want her quirky take on their famous logos.
In a story that could only be born from internet fame, Zugay went viral earlier this year for posting videos of deliberately silly things and then reading peoples’ reactions to them in her comments section.
For example, a TikTok of her attempting to play mini-golf, while using the putter backwards, amassed 4.7 million views.
The follow-up video she posted of her reading the comments on the TikTok, amassed 1.7 million views.
Zugay replies to the comments in her signature deadpan style.
@emilyzugay Reply to @berniesovenmitt #greenscreen thanks for your contributions… again
Zugay, clearly has an ear for what the internet finds interesting and her TikTok account went even more viral when she posted a video of her redesigning iconic logos, from Starbucks to Apple – the video racked up a staggering 14 million views.
Zugay explained she wanted to put her design degree to good use, and then redesigned famous logos to align with what she finds attractive.
For instance, with Apple, she declared she didn’t like that the logo didn’t have any words signalling the brand. Her redesign simply included the word Apple, and the colour green.
She also redesigned Amazon’s logo and removed the arrow because she didn’t understand why the logo needed an arrow pointing at the Z and O, “It just feels like a waste of space to me.”
The TikTok is assumedly very tongue in cheek, but it didn’t stop people from loving it.
The success of her videos caught the eye of major brands, with McDonald’s personally requesting Zugay redesign its logo.
Zugay changed the logo to emphasise the ‘O’ instead of the ‘M.’
She explained the ‘M’ reminded her of knees, “I don’t want to be thinking about someone’s knees when I eat my McChicken.”
@emilyzugay Reply to @mcdonalds easy
Fabulously, brands were then using her logos as their icons on TikTok. Even TikTok joined in on the action, swapping out their black logo for Zugay’s purple creation, because – she likes purple.
@emilyzugay I’ve peaked. Thank you @tiktok 💘
However, most brands seemed to go back to their original logos after a day or so. Still, having influence over McDonald’s is nothing to be sniffed at!
