British Museum ‘rebrand’ brutally mocked as people left completely baffled

The British Museum is reportedly planning a “rebrand” alongside its newly renovated building, stoking fears that the iconic institution will “go woke”.

You might not think of a museum as having a brand identity, assuming that its collections of artefacts speak would for themselves, but the bigwigs in Bloomsbury are of a different opinion.

Britain’s first national museum on Great Russell Street is undergoing a £150,000 project to “review and reimagine its brand and visual/vocal identity” as part of an initiative launched under new director Nicholas Cullinan, who took up the post last spring.

A tender brief for the plans says Mr Cullinan’s arrival spurred a consideration and review of “how [the museum] communicates and presents itself”. Following consultation, a “coherent and compelling visual and vocal identity” will be applied “to internal and external products and services locally, nationally and globally”.

While details of the “reimagined” branding, presumably replacing the museum’s simplistic existing logo, won’t emerge until after the consultation period, social media commentators have jumped the gun to assume the worst case outcome.

Iconic car brand Jaguar underwent an extensive rebrand in November, changing its logo by removing the famous pouncing cat and releasing an advert that was widely slated for its replacement of any vehicles at all with models dressed in colourful clothing.

There’s no reason to assume that the British Museum’s rejigging of its brand design will be anywhere near as extreme or controversial, but one X user said they were afraid it would be “Jaguar 2.0”, which they dubbed “tone-deaf woke dross”.

Another questioned how such a basic and fundamental brand could possibly be altered, writing: “Forgive me but is the brand of the British Museum not the British Museum?”

“Be very afraid because the glorious Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery is now The Box,” a third person warned, while others suggested a rebrand could involve “capitaling the t in the” or changing its name to “‘bM’ or ‘britMu’ with a rainbow swish”.

The current logo dates back to the museum’s founding in 1753, and consists of a simple typeface in a variant of the font Baskerville, designed by the businessman John Baskerville.

The rebrand will accompany a wider redevelopment of the site, including a new research centre, welcome facilities and a redesign of a third of its exhibition space.

Mr Cullinan reportedly vowed not to cater to the “woke” brigade last September, ruling out calls to follow The Tate’s example and add signs explaining that some exhibits are linked to colonialism. 

He told The Times he would “not conform to a particular sort of political agenda”.

In the same interview, the director declined to shed light on whether the Elgin Marbles would be returned to Greece following apparent progress in negotiations between the two countries last year.

Mr Cullinan said the decision would be made by politicians, citing the 1963 British Museum Act, which prevents it from disposing of any items in its collection.

Express.co.uk has contacted the British Museum for comment.