Anger at BBC response to logo complaints

Frustration at a new on-screen identifying graphic on BBC Three has turned into anger after the corporation posted a "news" article in which complainants were referred to as "geeks who should get a life."

Reaction on the DS forums to the new on-screen graphic (or "DOG" for short) was swift and almost universally negative. On Friday, the channel's logo became larger and entirely opaque, leaving viewers unimpressed.

"Absolutely revolting," said one user, with another adding that it was "truly awful." Even those that didn't object to the size found the opaqueness of the logo to be a problem, noting that the bright white text in the corner of the screen was "harsh," and that it made "it difficult to actually watch the programme."

Forum users then reported dispatching complaints to the BBC's complaints department. Those complaints received a standard reply from the corporation regarding its use of channel identifiers. The more recent responses included a mention that BBC Three has decided to make the graphic more transparent. However, the BBC went one step further and posted an article (since revised from its original form, although the original is still available) on the "news" section of its BBC Three website that has caused considerable controversy.

"In a world where international terrorism, indiscriminate murder and global poverty are facts of life, you might think people would have more important things to worry about than little logos in the top corner of their television screen," the anonymous article titled Beware of the DOG begins. "Alas, no," it continues. "Those little graphics... are the cause of much consternation among certain viewers."

"Just don’t call them geeks who should get a life," the article went on.

The complaints regarding the graphic then began to pale in comparison to the number of posts on our forums about the article.

"I can't believe the opening sentence," wrote one member. "How dare the BBC use the death of 57 people & dozens of others that lost limbs on 7/7 for BBC's political gain," the user added.

"I usually stick up for the BBC," said another member, "but they are bang out of order on this one."

"I think it says much about the quality of the Channel that 'In a world where international terrorism, indiscriminate murder and global poverty are facts of life,' their idea of a major news feature is one which talks about their own channel and belittles their viewers," reads another post.

Others, however, saw the issue differently.

"I thought the BBC Three article was pretty funny myself," reads this post. "If only the BBC had the balls to defend itself like that a bit more often." That sort of positive comment, however, was clearly in the minority.

This afternoon, the link to the article began returning a 404 "Page Not Found" message. Shortly afterwards, however, a revised article appeared, with references to terrorism in the opening paragraph replaced:

"As everyone knows, dogs come in all shapes and sizes. But we're not talking about the kind that go "woof" a lot."

The reference to "geeks" has also been removed.

Discussion continues on the forums.