Political logos are hard. Very hard. There's usually always something in them to be not just dissected, but mocked, memed, and ridiculed.
Hillary Clinton was on the receiving end of such treatment when she unveiled her logo (that H with the red arrow facing right, of all directions).
And now Donald Trump is enduring the same, if not worse. Friday, just after he officially announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate (on Twitter of course), his fundraising committee unveiled its new logo: a "T" and a "P" both inside an American flag, on top of the words: Trump. Pence. Make America Great Again! The logo debuted in a fundraising e-mail from the Make America Great Again Committee, according to Politico. That's the joint fundraising committee between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Simple enough, right? NO.
As soon as it hit the web, something seemed off. This logo, that visual — it was strangely sexual.
That T was doing something to the P.
T👉P👌2016🇺🇸
— Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz) July 15, 2016
How are we supposed to explain the new Trump logo to our children??
— Will Rahn (@willrahn) July 15, 2016
https://t.co/h2Ui0f0YY6 pic.twitter.com/VXX44UGiGd
— Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) July 15, 2016
Within minutes, it was the laughing stock of the Internet, especially among those who dislike Trump of course.
I have it on good authority that Chris Christie is currently trying to papercut himself to death with a printed copy of the Trump/Pence logo
— Danny Hatch (@dannyhatch) July 15, 2016
It got its very own GIF, too (viewer discretion advised).
or something@JuddLegum pic.twitter.com/0AJJDFqiSp
— darth™ (@darth) July 15, 2016
There were gay jokes.
This logo is not welcome in certain Indiana pizzarias pic.twitter.com/GGcH1TXUm3
— Sam Baker (@sam_baker) July 15, 2016
The Trump Pence logo is what happens when you can't find a single gay graphic designer willing to work for you.
— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) July 15, 2016
And toilet paper jokes.
@edatpost they're going to TP America. pic.twitter.com/Pbd9bVNb0Z
— Emilio Delgado (@emilio_delgado) July 15, 2016
And the jokes about how this was all a metaphor for what Trump's relationship with his new running mate might be like.
Even senior statesmen like John Dingell got in on the fun.
What is the T doing to that P? https://t.co/tDvYm2QJYi
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 15, 2016
In minutes, it seemed, one logo turned all of the Internet into 12-year-olds. Perhaps it is fitting. In an election where candidates on both sides of the aisle have been acting like adolescents — trading petty insults, getting into Twitter fights, discussing the size of their manhood, riffing on Pokemon — we should have expected at some point for all of us involved to totally take this whole thing back to middle school.
Of course, some people must actually like the logo (tell us in the comments or tweet us at @nprpolitics if you do!), though they must not be on Twitter today. And, it's quite rare that a political logo, on its own can win or lose an election. But, so many jokes, so quickly after this logo's debut, it can't be good.
At least "Trump Pence" has a nice ring to it. (It sounds like "trumpets.")