Pink Whitney and Blue Raspberry Ice: Color, Dopamine, and Decisions
A pack of Marlboros and a can of Coca-Cola. Any similarities?
Red! The color red was used in marketing to represent energy, excite consumers, and increase appetite long before it was even hypothesized that color impacted consumer choice so greatly (Singh, 2006).
It is important to look at the intersection of product packaging and color in food choices before anything else. Adolescents and adults alike unconsciously associate brightly colored packaging with dopaminergic neurons firing. A processed, sweet or salty snack is a reward, and an addictive one, so when we see the bright pinks and reds and yellows that snack foods are so often packaged in, our brains may have a heuristic in place: we’ve learned that these colors signify pleasurable experiences (Bodkin, 2017).
The association between color and pleasure does not end with food. Especially for young people, having too much junk food is the least concerning outcome of companies frequently using color in marketing.
If there is anything adolescents love, it is potent and provocative displays of self-expression and independence. So, it may have been shocking for experts to see a 74% decline in cigarette use from 2002–2019, when cigarettes have so often symbolized teenage rebellion (American Lung Association). Quickly, though, it was realized that this was far from the whole truth.
Vape products, or e-cigarettes, have far surpassed traditional cigarettes in recent years (Jones et. al, 2020). As cigarettes became more stigmatized, a new industry found its audience selling brightly colored and deliciously flavored nicotine products. And the colors of the vapes have everything to do with it: young people are motivated by bright, eye-catching colors, especially ones they already associate with a dopamine reward from the previously mentioned tasty snack foods (Truth Initiative, 2018).
Whether it’s the saturated cobalt of a Blue Raspberry Ice disposable vape or the bright yellow-green of Apple Orchard JUUL pods, the e-cigarette industry knows that both are attractive (and more enticing than a smelly cigarette). Young adults might even feed their cognitive dissonance with these vivid hues: looking so flashy, how could a vape even be harmful?
Alcohol is no different: brands have figured out that color and consumer behavior are inextricably intertwined. The brighter, the better: the second most popular brand of alcohol among underage drinkers is Smirnoff Malt beverages, alcohol that comes in oranges, and greens and reds (Chedekel, 2019). Pink Whitney, a pink lemonade flavored vodka that looks the part, is no different: it has become a classic drink for college students.
It is color that especially excites young consumers. This marketing tactic isn’t new — its extensions into underage substance use are simply an evolution.
Color has always affected our decision making. Curiosity and excitement from color are a part of us from the time we’re newborns, seeing the world as muted and watching it transform. As we age, our love of color does so alongside us: a beloved bright pink blanket, a red firetruck, purple dyed hair when we’re 14, and companies are quick to use this to their advantage.
It isn’t a bad thing to know the distinct color of your comfort food’s packaging or to choose boldly colored clothes. Our eyes are drawn to color, they remind our brains of a huge range of emotions — not to mention, dopamine releases.
The problem is, marketers do not regularly concern themselves with our best interests. Some companies, yes, use color as a casual brand representation (like Coca-Cola). However, others use color to captivate and persuade young people, and the potential for unhealthy decisions with long term consequences should simply never be left up to corporations.
Works Cited
“4 Marketing Tactics E-Cigarette Companies Use to Target Youth.” Truth Initiative, 9 Aug. 2018, truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-industry-marketing/4-marketing-tactics-e-cigarette-companies-use-target.
American Lung Association. “Tobacco Trends Brief.” Tobacco Trends Brief | American Lung Association, www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/overall-tobacco-trends. Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.
Bodkin, Henry. “Sell Fatty Food in Plain Packaging, Says Prize-Winning Neuroscientist.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 6 Mar. 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/03/06/sell-fatty-food-plain-packaging-says-prize-winning-neuroscientist/.
Chedekel, Lisa. “What Underage Drinkers Drink.” Bostonia, 18 June 2019, www.bu.edu/bostonia/summer13/underage/.
Jones, Kristen, and Gary A Salzman. “The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents.” Missouri Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7023954/.
Singh, Satyendra. “Impact of Color on Marketing.” University of Winnipeg, Mar. 2006, ion.uwinnipeg.ca/~ssingh5/x/color.pdf.
