Has Charlotte changed its mind on the Truist tower signs? Here’s what you said.
It’s been almost exactly a year since Truist lugged its 980-square-foot nameplates — and 558-square-foot logos — on top of one of Charlotte’s tallest towers.
It was supposed to celebrate the bank’s historic $66 billion merger that gave the city a second bank headquarters, but some Charlotteans weren’t keen on the new signage.
Nearly 3,000 people signed a petition calling for the signs’ removal at the time, and many expressed their distaste for the design, color and even the name itself on social media.
But a lot can change in a year. The Observer wanted to see if Charlotteans had changed their minds in a survey published this week.
The answer? A resounding “no.” Some 79% of the 1,233 respondents said the tower looked better before the signs went up, with only 21% saying they prefer the building now.
“The Truist signs and lights hover over what was a beautiful uptown skyline,” one commenter on the poll wrote. “Now that I am traveling again for work, every time I am on an evening return flight ‘Truist’ grabs the attention in a gaudy way.”
“I like the lights but the tacky signs on top are a slap in the face to the architects and designers of this beautiful art-deco building,”another person said. “I work uptown and I (still) cringe every day when I see this building.”
Not everyone was against the change.
“I think the building overall is gorgeous and adds to the beauty of the Queen City skyline!” one person wrote. “The Charlotte skyline is very unique and beautiful and Truist has added significantly to that concept.”
What about the Truist lights?
Opinion was split on the skyscraper’s new light setup.
The bank also added multicolored lights to the building so that the length of the tower shines Truist purple or other colors at night, depending on holidays or community events like a Panthers game.
As of Friday morning, exactly 50% of respondents were opposed to the lights, and 50% said they liked that change.
Some people preferred one over the other, saying the bank should keep the new lights and scrap the signs.
“I recommend taking down the signs to promote engagement with hometown Charlotte judgment and whimsy, while keeping (the new) lights up for ongoing progress and representation of Truist,” one suggested. “Everybody wins.”
Whether or not you like the Truist sign on Charlotte’s skyline, it soon won’t be the only place you can spot the bank’s name and purple branding in the city.
With a complete conversion planned for early next year, BB&T and SunTrust customers will start to see the Truist logo on their bank branch, debit cards and digital banking products, too.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 10:09 AM.
