Nothing Compares to the Iowa State Fair … Logo

On 11 August 2016, radio personality Skeery Jones shared an image to Twitter and Facebook of an image purportedly representing the logo for the 2016 Iowa State Fair:

I’m SOOO EXCITED for the @iowastatefair! See you on the midway w/@KISS1075 tomorrow from 3-5pm! #Iowa #iowastatefair pic.twitter.com/WehzLDGorn

— Skeery Jones (@SkeeryJones) August 11, 2016

The origin of the purported artwork was unclear, but its undeniable resemblance to male genitalia didn’t go unnoticed on social media. The image was loosed into the wild, leading many viewers to believe that the rendering was indeed the official logo of the 2016 Iowa State Fair. The claim wasn’t perceived as completely implausible due to Iowa’s popular image as a farming state, so the image of a silo bookended with two bales of hay seemed appropriate in theme.

We didn’t find the image in the Iowa State Fair’s media library’s image section, nor did we find any other evidence the event had adopted such a logo. Most official channels for the Iowa State Fair display an image of what appears to be a butter cow against the background of a blue sky:

We contacted the Iowa State Fair’s marketing department for verification, and they confirmed that they were aware of the circulating “logo” but that it did not originate with the Iowa State Fair organization and was not an official or authentic logo.

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