?Color Me PC

??Marketing is a nine letter word, but if enough corporate executives thought that a six letter version would sell better, the dictionary would probably eventually spell it “mrktng.” Or, if enough people from the coalition of people offended by nine letter words wrote angry letters, the same result would occur. This unique supply and demand marketing is proved nowhere better than in the history of Crayola colors, and it teaches interesting interior design lessons, as it poses the question: what’s in a name?
It was 1903 when the company Binney & Smith conceived Crayola crayons. (Named by Alice Binney, “crayola” is a combination of the French words for “chalk” and “oily”.) In this box of wax color sticks – a novel idea at the time – were the simple crayon colors “Black, Brown, Orange, Violet, Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow.” However, when the 1950s industrial revolutions saw the rise of companies, corporations, and the general economy, eight colors for a successful crayon company was suddenly absurdly simple; it just wasn’t making as much money as it could have been with, say,…… 48 colors. Hence the addition of “colors” such as Apricot, Bittersweet, Burnt Sienna, Maize, and Cornflower.
Were these colors necessary? Although they certainly stray from the initial color wheel – which is made up of essentially the only actual colors – they did allow for more artistic creativity. Equally creative, however, are some of the names given to these color mixes and hybrids. Bittersweet? That’s still arguable as a feeling, let alone a color. But with 48 colors, the Crayola crayon company continued to boom. They are the go-to supplies for a vast majority of elementary schools and even homes. Names that seem initially like marketing ploys – cerulean, salmon, thistle – have actually slowly become embedded into our culture as legitimate colors, hues, or shades.
And then they were 72. And that’s where Crayola started to get really creative with consumers. The suspecting, sardonic artists out there can almost picture the marketing meeting at which an executive announced “alliteration sells!” and “Wild Watermelon” and “Blizzard Blue” were born.
Many Crayola names were also changed due to the idea of being “politically correct” – as well as just inoffensive. The most famous case of this is the Crayola color “Flesh,” created in the 1950s. “Flesh” was a peach color, matching the skin of a Caucasian. But in 1962, during the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, the company voluntarily changed the name to “Peach,” proclaiming that, of course, not all flesh is peach (but all peaches are). Similar changes were made to “Prussian Blue,” which was changed to Commie Blue – er, “Midnight Blue” in 1958 and “Indian Red,” which was finally changed, after large-scale protests, to “Chestnut” in 1999. Interestingly enough, although “Indian Red” was changed to “Chestnut” because it was considered offensive to Native Americans, the name actually originated from a reddish-brown pigment found near India commonly used in fine artist oil paint. It was not meant in reference to Native Americans, but to the country India. So, many have asked, who is really being un-PC, assuming that the term “Indian” still always refers to Native Americans?
When decorating your Hamptons home, consider the colors you choose. Or, rather, consider what you refer to them as. You may buy a blue couch, but do you want to tell people it’s “Midnight Blue,” “Cerulean,” or just plain blue? Crayon conservatives still seem to prefer “blue” and often resent the changes made to their childhood colors, while those who prefer haute, upscale names may want the most up-to-date name possible. The same interesting color names used by Crayola are now seen at almost all furniture stores – rarely will a furniture vendor or brand refer to its latest couch as just “red.” Red is suddenly drab, instead of as vibrant as it is on a color wheel. Instead, it’s “razzle dazzle red” or “lipstick red” or “fuchsia.” Oooh…… fuchsia.
I recommend choosing one theme or the other: super cool color names or super simple color names. Do not tell your houseguest that he is sleeping on a “gray bed with midnight black and mahogany throw pillows.” It seems to work better with either all ornate names or all original names. The question I pose, and I am the first to pose it, is: what’s in a name? For Crayola, everything: a business, an offensive term, a best-selling epithet. But should consumers see it the same way? Some color names can be fun; some colors can be interesting hybrids; but remember that in the end they all stem from the same wheel.
–Mike Vilensky