BELLINGHAM, Wash. — After what historians are already calling "one of the shortest branding campaigns in local government history," the Bellingham Police Department's rainbow-themed social media logo officially completed its tour of duty before quietly returning to its standard appearance approximately 24 hours later.
The brief deployment reportedly sparked thousands of Facebook comments, hundreds of screenshots, and at least three family group chats that nobody wanted to be part of.
According to sources inside the department's social media team, the logo change lasted just long enough to satisfy everyone who was already planning to be upset about it.
"It completed its mission," said one anonymous employee. "We honestly didn't expect it to survive the weekend."
Local internet experts estimate the temporary logo generated enough engagement to power Facebook's servers for nearly seven minutes.
Residents reacted in predictable fashion.
One side declared civilization was ending.
The other side declared civilization had finally begun.
Everyone else asked why the police department's logo had become the most important issue in Whatcom County for roughly 18 hours.
The department reportedly restored the original logo the following day after concluding that the internet had become "approximately 17% louder than usual."
Meta engineers confirmed the comment section reached temperatures normally only seen during Seahawks playoff losses.
One Bellingham resident admitted he refreshed the department's Facebook page every fifteen minutes "just to see what happened next."
"I don't even follow the page," he confessed. "I just enjoy watching the comments."
Political scientists from Western Washington University have since classified the event as a Category 4 Facebook Incident, defined as any local controversy capable of producing over 500 comments from people who all insist they're "done commenting."
Meanwhile, local graphic designers praised the department for accomplishing what years of marketing campaigns never could:
"They got everyone to stare at a logo."
As the dust settled, officials confirmed that police officers continued responding to calls exactly as they had before, during, and after the logo change, despite widespread internet speculation that changing profile pictures somehow altered municipal operations.
At press time, Bellingham residents had already moved on to arguing about bike lanes, roundabouts, and whether downtown parking has somehow become worse than last week.
Lord please save us all!