Why IS The Pepsi Blue?

February 16, 2013 2:32 PM

From the Beatles' White Album to the Pink Panther's Fiberglass, Richard Branson's rebellious red to the Queen's posh purple, CBC's Under The Influence takes a look at How Colours Make Us Buy.
posted by mannequito (10 comments total)

(as far as I know CBC isn't region restricted to Canada, but if I'm wrong, like a good Canadian, I apologize in advance)
posted by mannequito at 2:33 PM on February 16

Related: a book about the use of colour in film, with one of my favourite titles: If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die.
posted by Hogshead at 2:45 PM on February 16

I just want to take a moment to say how much I like Under the Influence. Last week's episode on the use of music in advertising -- often over the objections of the musicians and oblivious to the message of the song -- was superb, and can be listened to online here.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 3:13 PM on February 16 [2 favorites]

Speaking of the White album...
posted by dobbs at 3:23 PM on February 16

If Owens Corning hadn't licensed The Pink Panther for its advertising, could they have declared the character in violation of their trademark for the word "PINK"? Anyway, I hope they do go after all the baby products marketers who assume Pink means Girl.

The funny thing to me is UPS' rather recent over-embracing of its thematic color, with the slogan "What can Brown do for you?" bringing thoughts of bad brown stuff.

And I always thought of Google's color scheme as Blue/Red/Yellow, the 'primary' colors you were taught as a kid, then Blue/Green/Red (RGB backwards) the 'primary' colors in web design.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:24 PM on February 16

That's a more likely explanation. If this article was published on Wikipedia, there would be a [citation needed] after every sentence.
posted by zixyer at 3:32 PM on February 16

Owens Corning doesn't own pink, it owns a trademark on the use of its particular color for fiberglass insulation.
posted by aaronetc at 4:03 PM on February 16

I love that show. Terry O'Reilly is a really interesting guy.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 7:13 PM on February 16

Workers at a certain factory complained that the black boxes they had to lift were too heavy. So the boxes were re-painted mint green. The load didn't change, but the workers were happier.

When your workers complain that the boxes they have to lift are too heavy, how is it a logical response to paint the boxes a different colour?
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 9:48 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

That was really interesting, thanks. I'll have to try one of the podcasts.

It drives me nuts that companies can trademark single colors. (Or, in Canada, colours.)
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 6:28 AM on February 17