‘This is how i found out i turned 27’: Netflix just realized it’s almost 30 and made the mistake of sharing its dreadful first logo

We all have old photos we don’t want to see the light of day. Usually, these photos were taken during puberty, when hormones are not always kind to the teenage body. On its X account, Netflix recently shared the equivalent of an embarrassing puberty photo. Some people may not know but the company has been around for almost 3 decades.

Netflix Inc. was founded in California on Aug. 29, 1997, by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings. The story goes that it began as a DVD-by-mail rental service because Hastings was made to pay $40 in fees for the late return of Apollo 13 to his local video store, which didn’t sit well with him. Therefore, fueled by his disgruntlement as a consumer, he joined forces with Randolph to create the first US-based rental service with no late fees.

In early 2007, the company started its streaming service. Netflix’s unparalleled success would eventually eradicate once-popular rental DVD services like Blockbuster. Having reached widespread internationalization quite quickly, between 2010 and 2015, Netflix had the country’s fast-growing stock price.

Randolph and Hastings are described as visionaries. The pair somehow had the inkling that, as technology advanced, video streaming services would one day force DVD-by-mail businesses into obsolescence. It turns out, they were right.

That said, the first logo the company adopted was a far cry from the iconic one millions of people across the globe now know Netflix for.

Happy 27th Birthday to Netflix

At this point in its 27 years of existence, Netflix has acquired enough confidence to share its early logo with thousands of people on social media. This purple and black logo was used by the company from its inception in 1997 until 2000.

Although it could be uglier, it is not nearly as remarkable as the eye-popping red logo they would eventually settle for.

One X user wrote: “🤣🤣 bro, that logo was really bad 😂 glad you rebranded at least, and btw you look younger than your real age, so you gucci! 👌🏻”

Another user cleverly took aim at Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown strategy: “HBD. Reminder you cannot share cake with family if they don’t live in your household! 🎂”

Although the strategy to curb password sharing, introduced in 2023, was met with a wave of online backlash, it earned Netflix millions of new subscribers, proving that it was the right decision from a business standpoint if not a customer satisfaction one. Over the past 3 decades, the company has consistently evolved and adapted, making farsighted choices that would push it on the path of success it currently treads.