Nothing gets people buzzing like a logo design controversy. London, Ontario has had its share with the recent kerfuffle over the re-branding exercise for the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships, and who could forget the firestorm over the misguided London Rippers logo design. And now the Sunshine State can join the fray of branding controversy.

Enterprise Florida, an organization trying to promote Florida’s job growth is facing backlash over this logo that has been described by some as ‘sexist’. Specifically, the logo features a necktie in place of the letter ‘I’ in ‘Florida’, which has been called “offensive” and “not very female friendly” by some critics.

According to Melissa Medley, the chief marketing officer at Enterprise Florida, “if you see a tie, you think business, there’s nothing sinister here. There’s no secret formula for how it was approached. I recognize some people might look at that and connect to a man’s article of clothing,” she added. “Most people do so because they haven’t seen the rest of the campaign. I respect peoples’ opinions and we would never do anything to offend anyone.”

I have to agree with Ms. Medley here. The tie symbol is pretty much synonymous with business and shouldn’t be considered offensive. Really nothing to get upset about. What’s even more surprising to me – where’s all the outrage over the lameness of the logo design. Now that’s offensive! For now, back to the cage.