U.S. News reports that “People who own emerald green automobiles…have the most positive attitude about the course of their own lives. Dark blue and silver are other colors chosen by upbeat people.”
The article goes on to say that, “Red supposedly connotes an aggressive, high-speed personality, while yellow, theoretically, is for folks with sunny dispositions. But survey data show that people who drive red or yellow cars have below-average confidence. And black cars, supposedly a sign of power and elegance, are driven by the most downbeat drivers of all.”
The information in the article was based on a survery by CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, OR. Nearly 1,900 Americans were asked about their attitudes toward their own lives at several points over the course of a year and the color of the car they drive most often
According to CNW:
“CNW got a range of answers for each respondent over time, they were also able to calculate the “moodiness” of drivers—how widely their confidence varied from one extreme to the other, in the course of a year.”
I got such a kick out of the statistics on color and moodiness. Is it really reasonable to single out one item and its color to gauge an element of personality? Well yes and no. If the survey had been only among those that purchased a car where they had all available options and then selected a particular color it might be a bit more likely to reflect something that could be linked to other traits.
But what about those who end up with a color because that was what was available? Or those that had other outside factors that influenced the color? Does their acceptance of a color still say something about them? Do you think the color of your car says something about you?
Hmmm, I was skeptical but thought it would be fun to look at the statistics from CNW and see how they played against my personal experience. Does what I think to be the outlook on life of my friends and acquaintances match up with their car color? Well to my surprise for the most part it does. Not 100% but closer than I would have anticipated.
If you asked me to name ‘glass half empty’ folks a few people come to mind and true to the survey results they all drive black cars.
I know many people that drive silver and most of them are nice people that are usually upbeat and stay on an even keel but what keeps them from pushing higher up on the positive scale is that they tend to caught up in the blame game when something negative happens.
I have two very good friends that drive green cars and both are likely to be heard telling someone “forget about it” or “move on” or “look at the upside”. They definately fall into those super positive ‘get over it’ green drivers.
Very few people I am close with drive red or other brightly colored cars but that could have to do with age and practicality as much as outlook.
But what about me? I may do this for a living but I’m no different than anyone else when it comes to reports like this. I wanted to know what it says about me!
In this case I’m happy to report that as a driver of a midnight blue car I fall into the above average group and have a consistent positive attitude. Whew, I’m glad my car isn’t black!
I read this article just a few days before I was asked to comment on the Dupont 2007 Car Color Popularity report for IBSYS broadcasting. Here what the chart says about North America:
But what if I was to combine these two car color reports? Just like the companies that created them I could use the data to arrive at my own conclusions and here’s the result — my tongue-in-cheek look at what it reveals about the mood of the drivers I might encounter.
Kate’s Color Guide to Driving on the Highway
If you want to reduce your stress when driving on the highway let color clue you in to who to steer clear of.
Just under 20% of the vehicles you encounter will be in white with driver with an average outlook in regard to their attitude about the course of their own lives and only experience modest mood swings.
These are the people that usually leave on time, listen to the radio and accept that traffic is part of life. You don’t need to worry too much most of the time about those driving white cars. Just keep in mind that extra long traffic delays that make them late for a meeting or daycare pickup could raise their anxiety level and temporarily increase their aggressiveness on the road.
About an equal number of drivers would be behind the wheel of a silver car. These folks fall into the slightly above average category when it comes to having a positive outlook and their moods are very consistent.
These are the people happily signing along to the radio but always at the ready to better their position and get through the maze of traffic a bit more quickly. They will usually give you room to merge but if you don’t keep up with the pace they’ll take the first opportunity to go around you.
Then we get to black and the 16% of drivers who have te the least positive attitudes, are consistent about it and are subject to the greatest number of mood swings. These drivers are happiest on the open road because they truly think they own the road and that traffic laws don’t apply to them.
In traffic you might recognize them by the scowl on their face and if you were in the car with them you would probably hear complaining and griping about other drivers –you know the ones that don’t know how to drive. It is best to avoid those driving black cars.
But what about those red car drivers who are often thought to be aggressive and bold? Perhaps this is the persona they take on to mask a less than positive attitude or at least that might explain why those that drive red cars are just behind black when it comes to having the least positive attitude and most pronounced mood swings.
While they might not cut you off with the same sense of entitlement a black car driver does they will race by you and slide in with a grin and sense of satisfaction.
Though far fewer, if you do see an emerald green or blue car these are the folks to follow because they drive happy!
So what color is your driving?
Resources:
U.S. News article ‘What Your Car Color Reveals About Your Psyche’…
What Leatrice Eiseman says about ‘What Your Car Color Says About You…’
The complete report from Dupont…
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Jack Bredenfoerder, current President of Color Marketing Group (and one of my traveling companions on my recent trip to India) was asked to comment on the emergence and popularity of Yves Klein International Blue and this question sent him on a quest to understand more about the origins of this color and why it is regaining popularity.
Here’s what Jack has to say about Yves Klein blue…
Yves Klein: The Artist at Work
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In 2008 the Chinese will officially have their chance to mix a little of their culture with the traditions of the Olympics.
For example, on the official Olympics website for 2008, one can quickly find in the Torch Relay section at the top, a banner full of red waves and, you guessed it, a red dragon. In China, a red dragon symbolizes both happiness and power and it is a red dragon that will symbolize the lighting of the flame!
In creating his vision of how China would be portrayed on the Olympic website Zhifeng mingled traditional colors with a color not represented in Feng Shui; a color not a part of Chinese culture.
The main color theme of the Olympic website for 2008 is the modern and beautiful blending of blue and green to produce teal. Teal represents a new age of modernity; a color, which right now in China represents an increased awareness of globalization. The Chinese have embraced this color and display it proudly.
Although red will never be pushed aside at the heart of Chinese culture, it will, for a while, have to share the stage with teal.
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From an article in the New York Times:
About year ago, when Jamie Leventhal was trying to convince big chain stores to stock his new line of shaving gels for young men, a buyer for Target asked a crucial question: How much would he spend on advertising?
“I told him we would not spend a single dollar,” Mr. Leventhal said.
The buyer was stunned until Mr. Leventhal pulled a prototype out of his briefcase. The product, called NXT, is sold in an arresting triangular container that lights up from the bottom, illuminating air bubbles suspended in the clear gel. The plastic is tinted blue, and when the AAA batteries in its base are lighted, the whole thing looks like a miniature lava lamp or a tiny fishless aquarium.
Continue reading on the New York Times website…
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Tags: blue
Authored by Kate Smith
From an interview with the Clarion-Ledger. Grover answers some tough questions including this one about the color blue.
Q: Being the color blue, do you feel bad that there aren’t enough blue-colored foods? For the ones that exist, which are your favorites?
A: Blue is “blue-tiful!” There are not many monsters or foods that are blue, but that is OK. It just means we are unique. Blueberries are the only food I think I have had that are blue. And they are mmm mmmm good! Especially in a pie. I have seen other blue foods in the refrigerator, but my mommy always throws them away before I have a chance to taste them.
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Miley Cyrus (AKA Hannah Montana) says ‘I’m All About Jesus’ and my favorite color is blue.
So how many ‘tween girls will decide that their favorite color is also blue?
Photo from MCPAction blog
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Tags: blue, mlb
Authored by Kate Smith
From the Bleacher Report talking LA Dodgers:
By the way, if you believe in trends, then Loaiza pitches miserably for any team associated with the color blue: On team’s with the predominant color as blue (so not Washington), Loaiza is 43-49 with an average 5.51 ERA over those seven seasons. Tossing in Washington (just for the sake of argument) Loaiza ends up being 55-59, with an ERA average over those seasons of 4.64.
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It’s March 17th and for those of us that are Irish and those that wanna be (at least for one day a year) it’s ‘the wearing of the green’ in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
Americans have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since the 1850’s. But if you’re knowledge of Irish history only goes as deep as a mug of green beer you might be surprised to learn that in Ireland this holiday is not celebrated as wildly as in the U.S. and that there is not a historic connection between green and St. Patrick.
It is only in modern times that green has become associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Blue, not green, is the color long associated with St. Patrick.
A green shamrock was a symbol that St. Patrick had used to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish and ‘the wearing of the green’ meant to wear a shamrock to display your faith.
It is widely believed that beginning in the mid-1700’s people mistook the phrase to mean wearing green garments and we all know the rest of the story…the wearing of green has become ubiquitous with St. Patrick’s Day.
In fact green has become so strongly attached not just to this holiday but to Ireland many believe that it is the ‘official’ color of the country. While there is no official color two hues of blue, St. Patrick’s Blue and Presidential Blue are widely used by the Government of Ireland.
Presidential Blue is darker than St. Patrick’s Blue and both can be seen the football (soccer) uniforms of Dublin County and the liveries of Aer Lingus. Presidential Blue appears in the Irish Crest and St. Patrick’s Blue can be seen behind the gold bardic harp on on the ancient Irish flag.
So while I’ll still be ‘wearing the green’ today my heart will be ‘true blue’ all the way down to my Irish roots.
PS- I can’t help but wonder if the green really came about when the first creative pub owner tried to make blue beer. Blue food color + yellow beer…oops! Hmm, how can we spin this? Can’t let all that good beer go to waste! ☺
Happy St. Paddy’s Day
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‘Green’ has become synonymous with the environmental movement so naturally companies around the globe are using the term ‘green’ and the color green to communicate that their practices and products are environmentally friendly.
Overuse of this color however coupled with the fact that many companies that claim to be ‘green’ do not in fact follow environmentally sound practices (also known as ‘greenwashing’) has reduced the positive impact of this color.
Companies looking to differeniate thenselves are choosing to use blue to communicate their commitment to the environment and as Ann Mack of JWT put it so beautifully, “represent a much broader spirit of good citizenship”.
With growning concerns over having sufficient clean water and clean air to support the global population blue, a color associated with the the ocean and sky, is a natural choice.
Add to this the fact that blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed and it simply makes sense that forward thinking companies like Mercedes-Benz that want to distance thenselves from ‘greenwashing’ and be seen above the glut of green have chosen to incorporate blue into their ‘green’ marketing. For example Mercedes-Benz coine the term Bluetec for their clean diesel fuel technology.
VW also uses blue. BlueMotion badge is an environmental sub-brand, denoting the most efficient model in each VW car range. But it’s not just automakers but also the French government that are going blue rather than green.
Blue will not replace green as the color of nature but in 2008 the color will be seen with closer associations to the enviroment and global issues.
Blue will also be a color that is influencial in many other areas. Pantone named blue the color of the year for 2008 and as we ushered in the new year many hues of blue from sky to navy were already appearing in home and fashion stores everywhere.
Related links:
Pantone 2008 color of the year…
Automakers going green with blue…
Are consumers being greenwashed…
Health conscious buyers attracted to blue…
JWT predicts trends to watch in 2008…
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Pantone has selected its “Color of the Year” for 2008: Blue Iris Pantone 18-3943.
The company said the blue-purple blend combines “the stable and calming aspects of blue with the mystical and spiritual qualities of purple,” and suggested this hue “satisfies the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.”
“Look for it artfully combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. She said Blue Iris “best represents color direction in 2008 for fashion, cosmetics and home products.”
Eiseman added, “Emotionally, it is anchoring and meditative with a touch of magic.”
More on Pantone’s color of the year on Live In Full Color…
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