Why As, Bs and Os are disappearing from logos and shop-fronts

  • Published

Letters are disappearing from signs, shop-fronts and company logos as part of a campaign to encourage people to donate blood.

NHS Blood and Transplant has launched a worldwide campaign asking people to show support by dropping the letters of the main blood groups from their name and posting it on social media.

Big companies such as Boots, Tesco and Cadbury are getting behind the drive.

Image source, @CadburyUK/Twitter

NHS Blood and Transplant says in England alone almost 200,000 new donors are needed, especially younger and black donors.

It has started the hashtag #MissingType, which has generated more than 8,000 tweets in the past 24 hours.

Image source, @tesconews/Twitter
Image source, @NandosUK/Twitter

The number of people becoming donors and giving blood for the first time in England decreased by 24.4% in 2015 compared with 2005.

Image source, @SpursOfficial/Twitter

The national campaign ran for the first time last year, but this time around NHS Blood and Transplant is uniting with blood donor organisations across 21 countries, which cover one billion of the world's population.

Image source, @cabinetofficeuk/Twitter
Image source, @LloydsBankBiz/Twitter
Image source, @GiveBloodNI/Twitter

There has been some criticism of the campaign, with some tweets highlighting how blood donation is restricted for gay men.

The Department of Health says it is going to review the law that stops men from donating for 12 months after having sex with other men.

Image source, @pascalmarchev/Twitter