Woman Demands Business Owner Change Her Logo Because It Has The Same Colors As Her 'Hobby' Instagram Profile
Nobody owns the colors red and blue just so you know.
Pressmaster | Shutterstock Imagine you started up your own business. That's a major accomplishment — you've put so much of your time and energy into doing something you love and even took the risk of starting it on your own. You had to carefully go through lots of planning and work to get where you are.
Now imagine, after establishing your own business, someone tells you that you have to change your business because it's interfering with their hobby. That's what one business owner is going through after a woman demanded that she change her logo because the colors were the same as her Instagram profile, which was dedicated to her hobby.
A woman demanded a business owner change her logo because it has the same colors as her 'hobby' Instagram profile.
The business owner anonymously shared on Reddit that a stranger messaged her on Instagram asking her to change her established branding simply because of her own Instagram profile for her hobby. She shared a picture of the DM to Reddit.
Reddit
"Hi [name crossed out]!! your arrangements here are SO incredibly stunning! I hope this isn't a huge ask but could you avoid this logo color scheme in the future? I've been trying to make this kinda unique for my [crossed out] branding," the woman asked of the business owner.
Her message was quickly followed by a second text asking for advice, "Also I desperately need to pick your expert floral brain sometime!! I wish we lived closer! I'm very very new to this as a hobby, on my end."
Although the woman's message wasn't outwardly rude, most people were blown away by her request.
"The audacity to not only ask you to change your colour scheme, but then proceed to ask for free business advice?? Such an insane message," one commenter said. Another asked, "What level of entitlement is this?"
A third commenter questioned why the business owner didn't share their reply, to which she answered that she lost her cool and wasn't sure if the response put her in a good light. She also shared that she wished she had just left the woman on read but decided to share the message she actually sent anyway.
"Hiya. Thanks so much for complimenting my work, I put so much time and effort into the flowers as I do with my whole business. I'm a bit in shock from your message though to be honest. My business is really important to me, I have trained and qualified as a florist and been in the industry for nearly 20 years."
Reddit
The message continued, "This isn't just a hobby to me, it's my livelihood and as such I had my branding done professionally last summer. The blue and red sign in the picture was hand painted by me last September for wedding fayres and shows where I represent my business. My business cards are also these colours as dictated from my brand guidelines. I'm not too sure why you thought this was an appropriate message to send to me but its not okay and I shouldn't have to justify my business branding to you when you even said yourself that is your very very new hobby. I've gone back and forth with this as I worried I was being harsh but to be quite honest, you were rude to ask this of me."
The business owner was worried about being harsh in her response but she was simply clear and direct.
The business owner may have worried about coming off as harsh, but she actually handled the situation with lots of grace. Even commenters agreed. "OP, you sound professional and to the point. I don't think you 'lost your cool' at all. In fact, I think you were too nice. You handled it very appropriately," one commenter said. Another said, "This response is 100% justified and maybe she'll think twice about it next time."
Well, apparently not. The business owner shared that the woman actually doubled down and said she was sorry that the business owner felt the need to defend herself.
Reddit
She went on to say that the business owner's response was demeaning and that she truly didn't want any drama. She was also disappointed that the business owner blocked her. The florist, however, had already prefaced her screenshot of the woman's response with the fact that she blocked her because she didn't want her snooping through her stuff and then claiming she copied her.
This whole encounter seems to indicate that some people truly don't want to take responsibility for their outrageous demands and fail to recognize when they caused drama in the first place.
The colors red and blue aren't under singular use for any one person, and even if in some universe they were, it's ridiculous to think that someone's hobby Instagram profile of just 10 days is more deserving of their use than a legitimate business owner who has worked in the floral industry for about 20 years.
Perhaps there is more to the story that we don't understand. It's plausible that the woman really doesn't understand how her request stepped over a line. What we can learn, however, is that regardless of conflict, it's possible to engage in a disagreement that doesn't turn to insults and hate. These women will likely never be best of friends, but neither turned to anger as a means of resolution.
Sahlah Syeda is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.