World Taekwondo Federation rebrands to avoid WTF acronym

Score one for Internet slang. The acronym “WTF,” which stands for “What the [fudge],” no longer has to compete with the World Taekwondo Federation for meaning, although really, it never did.

After having used the acronym for 44 years, the organization declared Friday it will now be known simply as World Taekwondo.

“In the digital age, the acronym of our federation has developed negative connotations unrelated to our organization and so it was important that we rebranded to better engage with our fans,”  World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said in a statement. “Today is an important moment in the history of our great federation.”

According to the Guardian, World Taekwondo began contemplating the rebrand in 2015. It’s unclear why it took more than 18 months to complete, however.

It likely wasn’t because it took that long to come up with its new logo. World Taekwondo only gave that a partial makeover, deciding to retain its signature “kicking athlete” that previously formed the “T” in “WTF.” In the new logo, the “kicking athlete” isn’t a letter but remains just as symbolic.

“The ‘kicking athlete’ is colored in the five colors of the Olympic rings against a white background to signify the federation’s position as the leader of Olympic taekwondo and to symbolize the globality of the sport,” World Taekwondo said in a statement.

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World Taekwondo unveiled the rebrand Friday, a day before the World Taekwondo Championships kicked off in Muju, South Korea.

World Taekwondo isn’t the first organization to drop the “WTF” acronym, according to EuroNews. The Wisconsin Tourism Federation rebranded itself in 2009 to the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin to avoid association with the vulgar online slang.

Some organizations appear to be sticking it out, however, including the ATP World Tour Finals, perhaps because the finals are rarely referred to using the “WTF” acronym.

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