'What are they doing?!': Six Nations rebrand panned on X

The Guinness Six Nations became the latest rugby brand to revamp itself with a “supercharged” orange identity ahead of the 2025 campaign.

The warm colour palette was chosen to reflect the feeling of “optimism the fans feel when getting together at the end of winter” to experience the Six Nations.

Extensive research was undertaken ahead of the rebrand, with “fans, target audience members, Unions and Federations, and international rugby players” engaged.

The logo formalises the gender identity of the men’s version of the Six Nations with a capital “M”, aligning with the women’s version.

???? ????????????, Supercharged New Brand 🔥🟠 #RugbyRecharged #GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/3K1ZYkXNhJ

— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) November 30, 2024

The rebrand has caused angst on X with exisiting Six Nations fans highly critical of the new look.

Daily Mail rugby writer Chris Foy called it an “abomination” and asked “what are they doing?!”.

Sadly, this is an abomination… what are they doing?! 🤦🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/pTzHbeVWiR

— Chris Foy (@FoyChris) November 30, 2024

Fans were equally unimpressed: “There is absolutely no way this passed market testing… if it ‘did’ – I can only imagine it was done by an agency who were allowed to mark their own homework.”

Another fan wrote: “Genuinely one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Bravo.”

There is absolutely no way this passed market testing… if it ‘did’ – I can only imagine it was done by an agency who were allowed to mark their own homework

— my-kee (@Mikeyweal) November 30, 2024

Genuinely one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Bravo.

— Jack Quigley (@Jack_Quigley) December 1, 2024

I don't know what the market research for this was, but I stay up until 3-4 am in Australia to watch the 6 nations. I pay monthly subscriptions to multiple services to watch rugby and I haven't missed watching an Ireland game live in over a decade – I hate this logo passionately

— Darragh Ruddy (@ShaunOfTheFuzz) December 1, 2024

Extensive market research? With who?
Why is it now called "M6N"
Why does the logo look like an American radio station logo?

— Rich Corless 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@rich_corless) November 30, 2024

The rebrand brings the men’s tournament branding in line with the women’s and U20 style, with all three competitions using the same font and bold colour type.