Elon Musk’s publicity stunt to rebrand Twitter with a strobe-lit “X” atop the corporate’s San Francisco headquarters has drawn the wrath of neighbors — and the town may pull the plug on the installation.
The billionaire touted the display in a 19-second video of the pulsating logo lighting up the night sky after the corporate erected the metal structure on the roof of its Market Street headquarter.
“Our HQ in San Francisco tonight,” Musk tweeted.
But Musk’s enthusiasm was not shared by lots of his fellow Bay Area residents.
“This thing is a watch sore through the day too. Eek,” tweeted Christopher Beale, who shared a video showing how the strobing X sign beams into his apartment.
On Saturday, “the X sign is dark,” Beale added, though by Sunday it was back.
It’s unclear where Beale lives, though X’s headquarters in Market Square are surrounded by apartment complexes, including luxury constructing NEMA, Essex Fox Plaza and AVA fifty fifth Ninth.
“I could be f–king LIVID. Imagine this f–king X sign right across out of your bedroom,” one other X user wrote.
“I LOVE living in the town and all that comes with it. I really like the streetlights, the sirens, the dings of the trolley. Nothing about this silly sandbagged solar flare is normal or good,” the user, who goes by Kyle, added.
Meanwhile, Department of Constructing Inspection, which regulates construction in the town, has opened an investigation into the sign, city officials confirmed to The San Francisco Standard.
The DBI currently has an lively complaints related to the sign, based on the outlet, claiming that the illuminating “X” logo is an unpermitted structure on the roof.
A 3rd user added: “If every business in a city put this sort of crap on the roof that city would develop into unlivable.”
The corporate — which raked in $4.4 billion in revenue in 2022, most of which got here from ads — can be facing litigation in San Francisco over $136,260 in unpaid rent.
“If he don’t pay his bills it won’t shine very long,” one other X user chimed in, referencing Musk’s string of monetary struggles since acquiring the app previously generally known as Twitter for $44 billion in October.
Last month, Musk’s operation was evicted from its office in Boulder, Colo., after not paying rent for 2 months.
In June, then-Twitter’s landlord filed a criticism against its Musk-headed tenant, alleging the corporate was behind on rent payments, based on court documents obtained by the Denver Business Journal.
A Boulder County judge has since ordered a sheriff to remove Twitter from its Rocky Mountain outpost, positioned at 3401 Bluff St. in Boulder, Colo.
In response to a separate criticism filed in May, Twitter can be behind on nearly $100,000 in cleansing fees at its other offices in Colorado, at 1301 Walnut St.