If you follow me, or know me, you’ll know I have a passion for colour – in particular I love orange! To demonstrate my love and passion for orange it’s influenced many purchases and also influences the gifts I’ve received from friends and family over the years. For example, my Orbea carbon bike frame was orange, a glass antique vase salvaged by my mum in a Brocante in France is the most gorgeous rich orange, a light orange cotton bathing towel gifted to me by my sister (it also doubles up as a scarf if chilly on a summers night), a vintage burnt orange silk neckerchief gifted to me by my parents, and an Anorak reusable organic cotton bag with a beautiful retro flower print on it. The last product mentioned here combines several things I love – the colour orange, nature with the floral print, and being kind to the planet as being a reusable product, it helps removes the need for single use plastic bags.
Dial up joy, optimism, love, passion and life
So why am I banging on about orange? In June this year, Italian car manufacturer FIAT announced that it will no longer offer grey cars as it wants to make our lives more colourful. In the FIAT | Operation No Grey campaign, a key part of the narrative and storyline told by CEO Olivier Francois, is based on joy, optimism, love, passion, and life told through the joy of colour, he explains why FIAT look the decision. He states “The world doesn’t need another grey car. So, let’s change the rules”. A closing key message in the campaign reads “Italy, the land of colours”, “FIAT, the brand of colours”. It’s clear here that FIAT wants the absence of grey to become a “distinctive feature of FIAT’s cars in the automotive market”. Therefore, from June 2023, FIAT will no longer produce grey cars.
To my surprise, the spectacular campaign footage featured a grey FIAT car being dipped into a vast drum of orange paint – yes, my favourite colour! The stunt took place in the Italian city of Lerici, during the summer solstice on 21st June, 2023.
Congruent with FIAT defining themselves as ‘the brand of colours’, they have a wonderful way of naming their colour range, all celebrating and referencing FIAT’s country of origin; for example, colour names include Venezia blue, Passione red, Sicilia orange, Gelato white. I love their passion for colour. Perhaps my next vehicle needs to be an orange FIAT to spark more joy, optimism, love, passion and a zest for life out on the open road?
You can watch the campaign HERE.
Don’t look at me, I want to blend in
In the automotive industry, did you know that grey is the most popular colour for new cars registered in the UK, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trade (SMMT), June 2023. Over the last decade or so I’ve really been intrigued as to how grey become so popular, particularly as it’s a colour that has no positive psychological attributes.
To me, grey says blend in, don’t stand out, don’t look at me, I want to stay hidden. Like a battle ship on the ocean hiding from the opposition, or a person wearing a grey suit in to work to blend in with their counterparts in the city, grey is a colour that almost wants to be invisible.
I suppose you could say that grey is safe, it’s middle of the road – pardon the pun as we’ve been talking about the automotive industry and FIAT banning grey from its range. It’s neither black nor white, but I find it rather emotionless and find it dulls any feelings of creativity, which is most likely why I steer away from it as it dampens my positive energy and zest for life.
In 2011, the Guardian published an article titled ‘Why has everything gone grey?’ – and let’s face it, grey has dominated many areas of our lives from interior design to fashion and the clothes we wear. I wonder if this new more championed direction to celebrate colour and the psychological attributes of colour is a response to the challenges, we have all faced in recent years? Perhaps it’s a global response and desire to collectively feel more joyful, happy, optimistic and positive as we flow into the coming years.
Of course, colours and trends come and go, but I do hope that celebrating colour, in the many ways it can be utilised – in our lives, homes, cars, wardrobe, down to the brands we interact with – is here to stay.
Facts about grey
When you look at the ways in which we might related to the colour grey personally, culturally, and psychologically, is it any wonder FIAT made this decision to ban grey from their colour range? Some insights and facts below:
- It is a neutral or achromatic colour, meaning literally that it is ‘without colour’, because it can be composed of black and white
- The first recorded use of grey as a colour name in the English language was 700 CE
- In military uniform soldiers commonly wore grey to be less visible
- The German Army chose a colour called field-grey, specifically to be less visible at a distance
- In the 1930’s grey became a symbol of industrialisation and war
- Grey is rarely used by political parties as it’s commonly associate with conformity, boredom and indecision
- In design, grey is often used in fonts and headers to appeal to a mass audience
- Grey is a type of camouflage… it conceals, it hides, it doesn’t want to be seen, it wants to blend in with its surroundings and not stand out
Let’s talk – colourful conversations
When do you find yourself wearing grey or being attracted to grey? Or are you drawn to orange? As a brand strategist, colour consultant and coach, I work with heart-led people and businesses who are looking to make a positive impact in the world. If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd and distinguish your brand for all the right reasons in your marketplace, do get in touch, I’d love to help you develop your brand strategy.
With joy and colour,
Emma 🧡
Header image courtesy of Pixels – Anton Ivanov.
Brand Strategist | MarComms | Coach 