Color Presentations

I found several of the presentations on color very interesting. One of them was the presentation on green meaning "passion"--I have always considered green to be the color of greed, illness, or envy, but never passion. Several of the quotes that Ardis quoted from Old English texts, I would have interpreted completely differently had I not known what she taught us. It was a very fascinating subject because it is an iteration of the color completely unexpected to me.

Another surprise was that pink used to be a "boy" color. The logic does make sense--red means strength and courage and therefore is a "man's color," yet a baby boy is a small man, so pink (a very light red) would be his color. It is fascinating how deeply embedded within ourselves our notions of pink are in America. When the trend first broke for men to incorporate more pink into their outfits, I know that several people were shocked, and many men did not want anything to do with the trend. It's funny how a simple color can bring out such threats and insecurities in people.

The last thing I learned that was extremely interesting to me was the use of orange in weight loss campaigns. As was said, the color stimulates the appetite, which seems like a cruel marketing ploy--but at the same time, the color denotes ambition and success as well. It is interesting that the "hunger monster" in the Weight Watchers ads (AKA the "bad guy") is the same color as the color that signifies ambition and success. When I think of orange, the only food that comes to mind is oranges (or products made of orange flavoring, like orange sherbet, dreamsicles, etcetera)--and suddenly, without fail, I find myself hungry! I do have to wonder, though, if it has an affect on my appetite only because I was told that it's supposed to.