December 14, 2025 • 22 mins
The Pantone Color Institute has selected its annual color of the year for 2026: Cloud Dancer, or as some have pointed out, “white." In a year of anti DEI initiatives, controversial “good genes” ads, choosing a white shade that Pantone has said “allows all colors to shine” has left a lot of people, seeing red.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It is Sunday, December fourteenth, and we can tell you
what you're going to be wearing next year. We can
tell you what you're going to be decorating with next year. Yes,
this is one of my favorite announcements of the year.
It's Panton's Color of the Year. You know, I have
been obsessed with colors. The names of colors infacted something
(00:26):
we've laughed about over the years.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
This is ridiculous. A color of the year. Who gets
to decide? No, this is something it's supposed to be fun,
but it's new. I am one hundred percent learning that
this was even a thing as of the past couple
of weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I don't know why I have always been obsessed with this,
but Pantone Color Institute has been choosing an annual color
of the Year since nineteen ninety nine. And maybe it's
just because I was used to this being a part
of local news or the Newskicker. And maybe I'm because
I'm a girl and I like design and I like
to think about what the colored trends are. Maybe it's
(01:01):
all of that, but I always get excited, not just
because they tell us what color is going to be
the a color, but how they go about doing it,
how they describe it as.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Always a hoot. They take this very seriously.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Who are they?
Speaker 4 (01:13):
By the way, what was Pantona? What do they do?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Like?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
What is there there a color institute?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Does that even mean like Crayola?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Like they No, not like Crayola. I just know that
they study colors. They have they name colors, people have
paint colors, design colors.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Is it a paint company.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I don't know if it's a paint color. I just
know that it's a color institute.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Okay, So I didn't know there was this. I'm learning
so much right now about this institute.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But please continue. So do you have any guesses what this?
Have you seen any headlines? Do you have any guesses
about what the color of the year?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I will never be able to guess because you all,
I say you all, some of you don't seem to
think that there are just eight colors, right, We're all
taught this as children. We get the first box of Cryon,
there's eight colors, and so everything I see it's not
just green. It has to be kelly green or forest
green or this kind of green, or it's always it's
(02:12):
too much. Sometimes it's just green. And so I get
it's annoying that every time I point to a color,
you make up some Oh yeah, that's ruby, midnight moon.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What No, I might say something like that's per simon.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Maybe maybe I would say, like that that's color cinnamon,
or that color is kelly green. Like I do distinguish
among like the blues, like what blue is that?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I don't ever say what blue is that. I go, Wow,
that's blue, and you go, oh no, that's more of
a summertime butterfly daytime.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I've said cornflower blue and you've made fun of me
about it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That makes sense, Just okay, it's just me. I find.
Everybody's into their colors the thing I find. But it's
just frustrating when I hear the names because every time
it sounds like you just made up something.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
All right, So maybe I get it from Pantone. But anyway,
this year's pick actually has proven to be controversial, which
I can't recall a color being controversial before this year.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
It's where we are, it's everything.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So now we've got a controversial color of the ear.
Here is the color of the year, Cloud Dancer. Shut
up your reaction, My love.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
What color is? Cloud is sound dancer, cloud dancer, Cloud Dancer,
cloud Dancer. So is Cloud Dancer some kind of an
electric blue?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
No, you'd like me to describe Pantone's description of what
cloud Dancer is.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Can't wait for this?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You were gonna love this?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
A lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming
influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.
A billowy white imbued with serenity, Cloud Dancer in urages
true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and
creativity to breathe, making room for innovation. There's more. With
(04:10):
its expansive presence, Cloud Dancer invites us space where function
and feeling intertwine to build atmospheres of serenity and spaciousness,
providing a refuge of visual cleanliness that inspires well being
and lightness.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
White.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So you just told me the color of the year
is white, correct, and thus the controversy. And it's a
special white. It's a white that's better than all the
other colors out there. Look how wonderful that white sounds.
This is the white we should all aspire to. This white?
(04:48):
Is that what you just read.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
To me, I'm reading from Pantone, okay.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
And I hope everybody please don't folk it continues.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
It shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It does though, Okay, can I continue?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Please let me hear more about The white.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Interject is often as you like, I'm so okay with that.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Does it say how it battles black?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Is it really really good at taking on the opposite
the black colors? Is what?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It doesn't say that, But here's what it does say.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Cloud Dancer reflects a universally shared experience. Whenever we are
the world, we all look up to the clouds for
inspiration and wonder.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Wherever we are in the world.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, okay, In the simple act of looking up, we're
connected by the drifting lightness of clouds. That universality is
a huge part of why Cloud Dancer was selected as
the Pantone Color of the Year twenty twenty six. So
white unites. Cloud Dancer is a key structural color whose
versatility provides scaffolding for the color spectrum, allowing all colors
(05:51):
to shine. In a world where color has been synonymous
with personal expression, this is a shade that can adapt, harmonize,
and create contract, bringing a feeling of airy lightness to
all product applications and environments, whether making a standalone statement
or combined with other hues.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Is there more?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
No, but I actually can talk. That was the gist
of how they described the color and why.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
They chose it.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Do you see the color there in front of uh?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, it is it. It's white.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It's white.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's white.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Okay. A couple of questions here when they do this
every year, are they creating a new color or this
is something that's just been out there that they're highlighting.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It's a color that they have in their spectrum that
they highlight. So they have named all of these colors.
And by the way, anyone who look, if you have
ever looked to paint a white wall, I just because
I love color and I love painting, and you know
all of that. So if you go look up white,
there are I don't even know, hundreds of shades of white.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
So this is a particular shade they chose it.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Only you can only probably tell what color it is
when you put it next to another color.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
It's a light work white.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
This is this is the best way, so you're gonna
get this is the one.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
This is a good way.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I don't even have to get into why the controversy,
because it's fairly obvious, is it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Okay, can you do something for me? Give me the
first that when you did the description, the very first
line that the first part you open.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
With cloud Dancer a lofty white that serves as a
symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value
of quiet reflection. Next line, the next line is a
billowy white imbued with serenity. Cloud Dancer encourages true relaxation
(07:40):
and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe,
making room for innovation.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Okay, what was the line about us all looking up
no matter where.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, that's when they talk about the clouds. Yes, cloud
Dancer reflects a universally shared experience. Wherever we are in
the world, we all look up to the clouds for
inspiration and wonder.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Okay, so what's the controversy.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, there's there's two people online have blasted the shade
for being bleak and boring and possibly not a color
at all.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, so there we go. That's just what you expect.
No matter what col you pick, someone gonna say, oh,
why did you pick that one? Oh, that's a silly one.
I don't like that one. You shouldn't gone, right, that's
that basic one.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
That's absolutely every year there's someone who like.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Come on, that's not controversial, right, not that much.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
That's okay, Well, I'll give you all that. There are
lots of funny reacts online. Others have denounced Cloud Dancer
as tone deaf and whitewashing, expressing other controversial takes, especially
with DEI policies this year, with the way we've seen
everything be anti woke, They're like, all the years to
choose the color white, this year was probably not the
(08:48):
best one to do.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
So okay, I don't know what did they use particular,
what their standard is when they pick thee Do they
just pick them out of a hat?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Is it random?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Is it there's a word and they vote And they
actually have responded specifically to the controversy.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
There's a board, Yes, how many on the board?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
There's a global team. I don't know how many people
are on the global team. Oh yeah, every year that
make this decision. It's a big deal. They start working
on the next year's color January second, they said, so
this is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You'll appreciate this.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
After hearing the description of the color read during today's
The Today Show, Al Roker said, otherwise known as white.
So it's very much been like Al Rokers. That's the
actually only person we have, like on television who is
announcing this making a little snide comment, but the other
So here's some other examples of reaction online. Your choice
(09:41):
is about as inspired as mayonnaise. Someone else said, pantone deaf.
Someone says it's giving unseasoned chicken. And then here is
another one. It seems as if this selection and the
content created around it was conceived in a vacuum completely
removed from our collectives, social, and political present. I'd hope
(10:01):
a brand as that has this much cultural impact wouldn't
operate with such a glaring blind spot.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Oh yeah, maybe I don't know it. I have a
should they just go about their work and not think about,
or worry about, or try to react to anything going
on out there. You can make an argument that that's
the way we should be going about this. We shouldn't
just react to everything going on. We're going to do
our work the same and it's not going to change.
(10:28):
That's one argument. I'm not on board with that one.
I don't like that. If you just say, well, we're
just doing our thing. Huh, I wish I appreciate and
what you're explaining to me how big of a deal
this is every year? Then you this is a missed opportunity.
This was a tone deaf thing, and I don't think
it's going too far right. If they would have picked
(10:49):
something else, there would have been no controversy about why
didn't you pick white? This was a good year. Nobody's
gonna say that, of course not. But in doing so,
you know where we all are, and you know what
we're doing. This company's Is this an American US based company?
I mean consider that as well. Maybe it's a company
that's a base somewhere else and they don't give a
(11:09):
damn about whatever politics might be going on and whatever
strife we have internally in our own country. Maybe that's it.
So I don't know, it's those things need to be
taken into consideration, but I can understand why. And my
reaction is the same as well, ropes.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
What the actual health Yeah, And by the way, people
who were upset by this choice pointed out to other
major tone deaf ads like the Sydney Sweeney ad, you
know they have American Eagle. They've talked about like that,
We've been here, done that, We've seen this year create
problems when we start making references and not recognizing how
(11:45):
they can be received by everyone, not just a certain
targeted And to say that this company that understands its
global reach, that understands its social impact, and the fact
that yes, people look forward to is that they had
to consider what that reaction would be if they chose
a white hue. And by the way, this is the
first time this company has ever chosen a white hue.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Great timing. Just go ahead and get it out, get
it out there. So so we go back to what
was their color in twenty twenty, was that black?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I was going to go over that.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Actually, funny enough, it was ultimate gray.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
In twenty twenty, Ultimate gray.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That was twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You know why I went to that year? That was
George Floyd, that that was a racial reckoning year. I
don't know how tone, I don't know what they're doing.
It's bizarre. It's a bizarre and it's boring. I mean,
it's white. Okay, you can describe white as great as
you want to and call it a cloudy and dancing and.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Billowie and yes, all right, so when we come back,
we are going to give the official response from Pantone
Color Institute about all this backlash because they are very
aware of it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
And yes, we'll go over some of the other colors
of the.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Year just because TJ loves hearing all of those descriptions.
Welcome back everyone. We continue to talk about pantones color
of the Year, Cloud Dancer. They thought it was billowy
(13:15):
and light and unifying, and turns out lots of people
have different thoughts on this year's choice.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
This is where we are. I mean, even a color
is controversial. Is that we argue about everything. If you
open a podcasts and saying it's Sunday, somebody will be pissed.
And I said, well not in my country. It's timeline.
That shouldn't They like, we got mad. Our first reaction,
our only reaction is outrage to everything. That is our
(13:42):
emotional reaction.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
And we all see things and receive things through the
lens in which our experience take us and that's just
the way human beings are.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Unfortunately, but when a company like this doesn't seem to
take into consideration everyone and then they give us on
line that makes it sound as if this was an
unbra I don't know, maybe this was a very I
want to say, sincere effort.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I don't want to take anything away from them, but
I can understand and my hearing you read it. I'm
sitting across the table from you reading about the cloud
dancer that's white, and it's this wonderful it's the best
of all hues, and this is going to bring us
all together and it allows other colors. I know people
like their other colors, but this white is the one
that makes it all possible for you other colors.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
God, yeah, they did not think this through, you know,
And that's just that speaks to why you want We
don't know. I don't know who's on this global team,
but clearly when you have diversity, other people's lenses are
suddenly recognized and seen through.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And then you're like, ooh, I can see how that
might be taken ouch.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So please diversity with authority. You can't just put one
black woman in the corner. Here's a Hispanic man in
this other corner. They're in the room fighting fifteen other
people that don't look like them, trying to convince them
that hey, about this color. I just want y'all to know.
I mean, it's tough. You have to give them the
(15:07):
authority to say, hey, y'all, this is not maybe worth
the risk.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
All right. I'm curious to get your response to their response.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
All right, here was good?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah, here was their official response. I want to hear
what in it's long?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Am I going to like this?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I don't know, I really don't know. The global team
at the Pantone Color Institute selected this color for its
emotional and creative resonance, not as a statement on politics, ideology,
or race. Pantone does not assign political narratives to color
to select or avoid a hue on that basis would
give such narratives a significance they do not hold in
(15:46):
this process. We understand that people bring different feelings to
its meaning. Color shifts depending on context and perspective. Cloud
Dancer is a color about relaxation, reflection, and creativity. The
Pantone Color of the Year selection process is rooted in
an understanding of humanity, drawing on close observation and global
(16:07):
trend analysis to recognize what is emerging across the design landscape.
It considers the moods a color can evoke and the
experiences it can shape in design.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
End quote, how do they select these colors?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a global panel and they go through it. They
are recognized globally as a leading source of color expertise,
and so they provide color insights and solutions, collaborating with
our clients to strategically address color challenges and develop a
color and design approach consistent with brand vision.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Is it a coincidence?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I'm saying it's possible that they use some process in
which they I don't know, they see what colors are
trending out there in the art world or whatever they
may do, and put them all together and say, oh,
this is the one that's now clearly yes, that's it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
That is what they do. They study trus they study
where a design is headed, and they consult with companies
to pick the right colors for their products that will
be attractive to people where we are in society. So
they're really getting ahead of where they think trends are
and where they're headed.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So with that argument, then this might be just a
coincidence that this process did its thing like it always does,
they say, and this just happened to be what came
out at this time. You also, I could make an
argument Robes that maybe they knew what exactly what they
were doing, because I ain't ever heard of Pantone until
this year and their color of the year. Oh really,
So people are discussing this thing out and I know
(17:33):
a lot of people might hear that and say, well,
how do you not know? DJ? And you clearly say
this has been a big thing every year. Yeah, but
I don't know, have sales been lagging? Has their name
not been talked about enough? Did anyone over there suggest,
you know what, this will get people talking about us
and we have some cover, we be able to cover
our butts and we'll be in the news cycle.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Maybe, Well, they're always looking, you know, and this is
they plan it out at the end of the year.
People look forward to it, you know. I think maybe
it's funny. I think just being in the Good Warning America,
we covered this every year. But I think maybe I
always ended up with the story. So that's why I
used to look forward to Pretty sure I didn't do it.
I'm pretty sure you were and I did a lot
of ridiculous stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But some of these so last year I remember you
were traveling.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Is I think the only time I did Morning Run
solo what you were and Sabine were going to the
Jingle Ball in Los Angeles. And that is when twenty
twenty five Color of the Year came out and it
was Mocha Moose, So that was this year?
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Is that?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Wait? Is a brownish something of them?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Did you see that Mocha Moose? A lot?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Like when you think about design trends and what people
are wearing brown.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
I see brown every year.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Twenty twenty four is Color of the Year. Peach fuzz?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Is it peach color? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Like a light orange?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Yeah, peach fuzz, peach fuzz.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Okay, you go.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I got all the way through twenty twenty I could
keep going. Twenty twenty threes Viva magenta. Purple, well, not
really purple. It's in between purple and and it's a
bright one.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Twenty twenty two very peary.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Don't even know where is that green?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
That's an intense periwinkle. Stop, do you know what periwinkle is?
Speaker 3 (19:10):
You say it pear, And I think I thought the
green pear like a pear.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Very pary, That makes sense, but it is p e r.
I so very periwinkle. What color's periwinkle.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I don't have any fuck, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
It's between blue and purple and it's light.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
You said something between blue and purple. I still don't
know what color periwinkle is by your description, Yeah, what
color is it? If I look at it, it's I'm
going to say, it's what.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
In between a blue and I'm not going to say light.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
You would probably say it's leaning more towards It's like
in between a light blue and a lavender.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
What am I going to say? If I see it?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
That's blue?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Okay? Thank you?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Then okay, thank you?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
All right?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Twenty twenty one, illuminating? What color was that?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It's just clear, just opaque.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
It's bright yellow, illuminating.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And then torn t was ultimate gray, the very first
color ever nineteen ninety nine cerulean.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Was that a bright sky blue color?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What was the one ultimate gray? I'm looking at it,
boring gray?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
It was the ultimate gray, babe. So what do you
make of pan Tone's response to all the backlash?
Speaker 3 (20:24):
It was well written. It was probably prepared ahead of time,
is what it felt like. And it felt like they
had they didn't react, they were ready, right, So it
I think this was maybe an expectation. I again, I want,
I get it, and I understand and having discussions, and
I think all of that is healthy. I just hate
(20:44):
sometimes it's always outraged. You talk about a color, and
then you say there's controversy, and now there's race and
a little like it's just everything. This is so fun.
It should be just to talk about colors and there's controversy.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
That's the thing I was looking to write this. I thought, oh,
this will be fun. We'll have a great time on
this episode, because you know TJ always gets so annoyed
and rolls his eyes when I start describing colors the
way Pantone describes colors.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
This will be fun.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And then I was really shocked to say, oh wow, okay,
look at this.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We've got a controversy.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
So twenty twenty six, everyone Pantone says, you'll be wearing
cloud Dancer.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
But maybe in opposition, you'll go with Ebony.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
In opposition, what do they call black over Pantone?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Anyway, that's why I went with Ebany. I tried to
find some other way to call Midnight.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I don't know, I wan'll be curious to look up
and see what Pantone calls the color black look. Yes,
I will be wearing a lot of white.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Cloud Dancer on right now. I'm looking at you.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's what you want to call it, all right, folks,
Just it's just the color. At the end of the day,
it's just the color. Wear it, don't wear it, like it,
don't like it, but we we got other things to
argue about. And with that, folks, we always appreciate you
spending some time with us. For my dear Cloud Dancer
fiance and Rot, I am TJ.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Holmes. We will talk for y'all. Sit the ten
Hey there, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It is Sunday, December fourteenth, and we can tell you
what you're going to be wearing next year. We can
tell you what you're going to be decorating with next year. Yes,
this is one of my favorite announcements of the year.
It's Panton's Color of the Year. You know, I have
been obsessed with colors. The names of colors infacted something
(00:26):
we've laughed about over the years.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
This is ridiculous. A color of the year. Who gets
to decide? No, this is something it's supposed to be fun,
but it's new. I am one hundred percent learning that
this was even a thing as of the past couple
of weeks.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I don't know why I have always been obsessed with this,
but Pantone Color Institute has been choosing an annual color
of the Year since nineteen ninety nine. And maybe it's
just because I was used to this being a part
of local news or the Newskicker. And maybe I'm because
I'm a girl and I like design and I like
to think about what the colored trends are. Maybe it's
(01:01):
all of that, but I always get excited, not just
because they tell us what color is going to be
the a color, but how they go about doing it,
how they describe it as.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Always a hoot. They take this very seriously.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Who are they?
Speaker 4 (01:13):
By the way, what was Pantona? What do they do?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Like?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
What is there there a color institute?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Does that even mean like Crayola?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Like they No, not like Crayola. I just know that
they study colors. They have they name colors, people have
paint colors, design colors.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Is it a paint company.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I don't know if it's a paint color. I just
know that it's a color institute.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Okay, So I didn't know there was this. I'm learning
so much right now about this institute.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But please continue. So do you have any guesses what this?
Have you seen any headlines? Do you have any guesses
about what the color of the year?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I will never be able to guess because you all,
I say you all, some of you don't seem to
think that there are just eight colors, right, We're all
taught this as children. We get the first box of Cryon,
there's eight colors, and so everything I see it's not
just green. It has to be kelly green or forest
green or this kind of green, or it's always it's
(02:12):
too much. Sometimes it's just green. And so I get
it's annoying that every time I point to a color,
you make up some Oh yeah, that's ruby, midnight moon.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
What No, I might say something like that's per simon.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
No, no, no.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Maybe maybe I would say, like that that's color cinnamon,
or that color is kelly green. Like I do distinguish
among like the blues, like what blue is that?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I don't ever say what blue is that. I go, Wow,
that's blue, and you go, oh no, that's more of
a summertime butterfly daytime.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I've said cornflower blue and you've made fun of me
about it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
That makes sense, Just okay, it's just me. I find.
Everybody's into their colors the thing I find. But it's
just frustrating when I hear the names because every time
it sounds like you just made up something.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
All right, So maybe I get it from Pantone. But anyway,
this year's pick actually has proven to be controversial, which
I can't recall a color being controversial before this year.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
It's where we are, it's everything.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
So now we've got a controversial color of the ear.
Here is the color of the year, Cloud Dancer. Shut
up your reaction, My love.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
What color is? Cloud is sound dancer, cloud dancer, Cloud Dancer,
cloud Dancer. So is Cloud Dancer some kind of an
electric blue?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
No, you'd like me to describe Pantone's description of what
cloud Dancer is.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Can't wait for this?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You were gonna love this?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
A lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming
influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.
A billowy white imbued with serenity, Cloud Dancer in urages
true relaxation and focus, allowing the mind to wander and
creativity to breathe, making room for innovation. There's more. With
(04:10):
its expansive presence, Cloud Dancer invites us space where function
and feeling intertwine to build atmospheres of serenity and spaciousness,
providing a refuge of visual cleanliness that inspires well being
and lightness.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
White.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
So you just told me the color of the year
is white, correct, and thus the controversy. And it's a
special white. It's a white that's better than all the
other colors out there. Look how wonderful that white sounds.
This is the white we should all aspire to. This white?
(04:48):
Is that what you just read.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
To me, I'm reading from Pantone, okay.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
And I hope everybody please don't folk it continues.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
It shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It does though, Okay, can I continue?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Please let me hear more about The white.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Interject is often as you like, I'm so okay with that.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
Does it say how it battles black?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Is it really really good at taking on the opposite
the black colors? Is what?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
It doesn't say that, But here's what it does say.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Cloud Dancer reflects a universally shared experience. Whenever we are
the world, we all look up to the clouds for
inspiration and wonder.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Wherever we are in the world.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah, okay, In the simple act of looking up, we're
connected by the drifting lightness of clouds. That universality is
a huge part of why Cloud Dancer was selected as
the Pantone Color of the Year twenty twenty six. So
white unites. Cloud Dancer is a key structural color whose
versatility provides scaffolding for the color spectrum, allowing all colors
(05:51):
to shine. In a world where color has been synonymous
with personal expression, this is a shade that can adapt, harmonize,
and create contract, bringing a feeling of airy lightness to
all product applications and environments, whether making a standalone statement
or combined with other hues.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Is there more?
Speaker 2 (06:14):
No, but I actually can talk. That was the gist
of how they described the color and why.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
They chose it.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Do you see the color there in front of uh?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, it is it. It's white.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
It's white.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's white.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Okay. A couple of questions here when they do this
every year, are they creating a new color or this
is something that's just been out there that they're highlighting.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It's a color that they have in their spectrum that
they highlight. So they have named all of these colors.
And by the way, anyone who look, if you have
ever looked to paint a white wall, I just because
I love color and I love painting, and you know
all of that. So if you go look up white,
there are I don't even know, hundreds of shades of white.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
So this is a particular shade they chose it.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Only you can only probably tell what color it is
when you put it next to another color.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
It's a light work white.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
This is this is the best way, so you're gonna
get this is the one.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
This is a good way.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I don't even have to get into why the controversy,
because it's fairly obvious, is it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Okay, can you do something for me? Give me the
first that when you did the description, the very first
line that the first part you open.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
With cloud Dancer a lofty white that serves as a
symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value
of quiet reflection. Next line, the next line is a
billowy white imbued with serenity. Cloud Dancer encourages true relaxation
(07:40):
and focus, allowing the mind to wander and creativity to breathe,
making room for innovation.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Okay, what was the line about us all looking up
no matter where.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Yeah, that's when they talk about the clouds. Yes, cloud
Dancer reflects a universally shared experience. Wherever we are in
the world, we all look up to the clouds for
inspiration and wonder.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Okay, so what's the controversy.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, there's there's two people online have blasted the shade
for being bleak and boring and possibly not a color
at all.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, so there we go. That's just what you expect.
No matter what col you pick, someone gonna say, oh,
why did you pick that one? Oh, that's a silly one.
I don't like that one. You shouldn't gone, right, that's
that basic one.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
That's absolutely every year there's someone who like.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Come on, that's not controversial, right, not that much.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
That's okay, Well, I'll give you all that. There are
lots of funny reacts online. Others have denounced Cloud Dancer
as tone deaf and whitewashing, expressing other controversial takes, especially
with DEI policies this year, with the way we've seen
everything be anti woke, They're like, all the years to
choose the color white, this year was probably not the
(08:48):
best one to do.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
So okay, I don't know what did they use particular,
what their standard is when they pick thee Do they
just pick them out of a hat?
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Is it random?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Is it there's a word and they vote And they
actually have responded specifically to the controversy.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
There's a board, Yes, how many on the board?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
There's a global team. I don't know how many people
are on the global team. Oh yeah, every year that
make this decision. It's a big deal. They start working
on the next year's color January second, they said, so
this is a big deal.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
You'll appreciate this.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
After hearing the description of the color read during today's
The Today Show, Al Roker said, otherwise known as white.
So it's very much been like Al Rokers. That's the
actually only person we have, like on television who is
announcing this making a little snide comment, but the other
So here's some other examples of reaction online. Your choice
(09:41):
is about as inspired as mayonnaise. Someone else said, pantone deaf.
Someone says it's giving unseasoned chicken. And then here is
another one. It seems as if this selection and the
content created around it was conceived in a vacuum completely
removed from our collectives, social, and political present. I'd hope
(10:01):
a brand as that has this much cultural impact wouldn't
operate with such a glaring blind spot.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Oh yeah, maybe I don't know it. I have a
should they just go about their work and not think about,
or worry about, or try to react to anything going
on out there. You can make an argument that that's
the way we should be going about this. We shouldn't
just react to everything going on. We're going to do
our work the same and it's not going to change.
(10:28):
That's one argument. I'm not on board with that one.
I don't like that. If you just say, well, we're
just doing our thing. Huh, I wish I appreciate and
what you're explaining to me how big of a deal
this is every year? Then you this is a missed opportunity.
This was a tone deaf thing, and I don't think
it's going too far right. If they would have picked
(10:49):
something else, there would have been no controversy about why
didn't you pick white? This was a good year. Nobody's
gonna say that, of course not. But in doing so,
you know where we all are, and you know what
we're doing. This company's Is this an American US based company?
I mean consider that as well. Maybe it's a company
that's a base somewhere else and they don't give a
(11:09):
damn about whatever politics might be going on and whatever
strife we have internally in our own country. Maybe that's it.
So I don't know, it's those things need to be
taken into consideration, but I can understand why. And my
reaction is the same as well, ropes.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
What the actual health Yeah, And by the way, people
who were upset by this choice pointed out to other
major tone deaf ads like the Sydney Sweeney ad, you
know they have American Eagle. They've talked about like that,
We've been here, done that, We've seen this year create
problems when we start making references and not recognizing how
(11:45):
they can be received by everyone, not just a certain
targeted And to say that this company that understands its
global reach, that understands its social impact, and the fact
that yes, people look forward to is that they had
to consider what that reaction would be if they chose
a white hue. And by the way, this is the
first time this company has ever chosen a white hue.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Great timing. Just go ahead and get it out, get
it out there. So so we go back to what
was their color in twenty twenty, was that black?
Speaker 2 (12:14):
I was going to go over that.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Actually, funny enough, it was ultimate gray.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
In twenty twenty, Ultimate gray.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
That was twenty twenty.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You know why I went to that year? That was
George Floyd, that that was a racial reckoning year. I
don't know how tone, I don't know what they're doing.
It's bizarre. It's a bizarre and it's boring. I mean,
it's white. Okay, you can describe white as great as
you want to and call it a cloudy and dancing and.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Billowie and yes, all right, so when we come back,
we are going to give the official response from Pantone
Color Institute about all this backlash because they are very
aware of it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
And yes, we'll go over some of the other colors
of the.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Year just because TJ loves hearing all of those descriptions.
Welcome back everyone. We continue to talk about pantones color
of the Year, Cloud Dancer. They thought it was billowy
(13:15):
and light and unifying, and turns out lots of people
have different thoughts on this year's choice.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
This is where we are. I mean, even a color
is controversial. Is that we argue about everything. If you
open a podcasts and saying it's Sunday, somebody will be pissed.
And I said, well not in my country. It's timeline.
That shouldn't They like, we got mad. Our first reaction,
our only reaction is outrage to everything. That is our
(13:42):
emotional reaction.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
And we all see things and receive things through the
lens in which our experience take us and that's just
the way human beings are.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Unfortunately, but when a company like this doesn't seem to
take into consideration everyone and then they give us on
line that makes it sound as if this was an
unbra I don't know, maybe this was a very I
want to say, sincere effort.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Right.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I don't want to take anything away from them, but
I can understand and my hearing you read it. I'm
sitting across the table from you reading about the cloud
dancer that's white, and it's this wonderful it's the best
of all hues, and this is going to bring us
all together and it allows other colors. I know people
like their other colors, but this white is the one
that makes it all possible for you other colors.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
God, yeah, they did not think this through, you know,
And that's just that speaks to why you want We
don't know. I don't know who's on this global team,
but clearly when you have diversity, other people's lenses are
suddenly recognized and seen through.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
And then you're like, ooh, I can see how that
might be taken ouch.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So please diversity with authority. You can't just put one
black woman in the corner. Here's a Hispanic man in
this other corner. They're in the room fighting fifteen other
people that don't look like them, trying to convince them
that hey, about this color. I just want y'all to know.
I mean, it's tough. You have to give them the
(15:07):
authority to say, hey, y'all, this is not maybe worth
the risk.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
All right. I'm curious to get your response to their response.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
All right, here was good?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yeah, here was their official response. I want to hear
what in it's long?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Am I going to like this?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I don't know, I really don't know. The global team
at the Pantone Color Institute selected this color for its
emotional and creative resonance, not as a statement on politics, ideology,
or race. Pantone does not assign political narratives to color
to select or avoid a hue on that basis would
give such narratives a significance they do not hold in
(15:46):
this process. We understand that people bring different feelings to
its meaning. Color shifts depending on context and perspective. Cloud
Dancer is a color about relaxation, reflection, and creativity. The
Pantone Color of the Year selection process is rooted in
an understanding of humanity, drawing on close observation and global
(16:07):
trend analysis to recognize what is emerging across the design landscape.
It considers the moods a color can evoke and the
experiences it can shape in design.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
End quote, how do they select these colors?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
It's a global panel and they go through it. They
are recognized globally as a leading source of color expertise,
and so they provide color insights and solutions, collaborating with
our clients to strategically address color challenges and develop a
color and design approach consistent with brand vision.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Is it a coincidence?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I'm saying it's possible that they use some process in
which they I don't know, they see what colors are
trending out there in the art world or whatever they
may do, and put them all together and say, oh,
this is the one that's now clearly yes, that's it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
That is what they do. They study trus they study
where a design is headed, and they consult with companies
to pick the right colors for their products that will
be attractive to people where we are in society. So
they're really getting ahead of where they think trends are
and where they're headed.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
So with that argument, then this might be just a
coincidence that this process did its thing like it always does,
they say, and this just happened to be what came
out at this time. You also, I could make an
argument Robes that maybe they knew what exactly what they
were doing, because I ain't ever heard of Pantone until
this year and their color of the year. Oh really,
So people are discussing this thing out and I know
(17:33):
a lot of people might hear that and say, well,
how do you not know? DJ? And you clearly say
this has been a big thing every year. Yeah, but
I don't know, have sales been lagging? Has their name
not been talked about enough? Did anyone over there suggest,
you know what, this will get people talking about us
and we have some cover, we be able to cover
our butts and we'll be in the news cycle.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Maybe, Well, they're always looking, you know, and this is
they plan it out at the end of the year.
People look forward to it, you know. I think maybe
it's funny. I think just being in the Good Warning America,
we covered this every year. But I think maybe I
always ended up with the story. So that's why I
used to look forward to Pretty sure I didn't do it.
I'm pretty sure you were and I did a lot
of ridiculous stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But some of these so last year I remember you
were traveling.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Is I think the only time I did Morning Run
solo what you were and Sabine were going to the
Jingle Ball in Los Angeles. And that is when twenty
twenty five Color of the Year came out and it
was Mocha Moose, So that was this year?
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Is that?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Wait? Is a brownish something of them?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Did you see that Mocha Moose? A lot?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Like when you think about design trends and what people
are wearing brown.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
I see brown every year.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Twenty twenty four is Color of the Year. Peach fuzz?
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Is it peach color? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Like a light orange?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Yeah, peach fuzz, peach fuzz.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
Okay, you go.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I got all the way through twenty twenty I could
keep going. Twenty twenty threes Viva magenta. Purple, well, not
really purple. It's in between purple and and it's a
bright one.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Twenty twenty two very peary.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Don't even know where is that green?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
That's an intense periwinkle. Stop, do you know what periwinkle is?
Speaker 3 (19:10):
You say it pear, And I think I thought the
green pear like a pear.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Very pary, That makes sense, but it is p e r.
I so very periwinkle. What color's periwinkle.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I don't have any fuck, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
It's between blue and purple and it's light.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
You said something between blue and purple. I still don't
know what color periwinkle is by your description, Yeah, what
color is it? If I look at it, it's I'm
going to say, it's what.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
In between a blue and I'm not going to say light.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
You would probably say it's leaning more towards It's like
in between a light blue and a lavender.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
What am I going to say? If I see it?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
That's blue?
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Okay? Thank you?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Then okay, thank you?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
All right?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Twenty twenty one, illuminating? What color was that?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It's just clear, just opaque.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
It's bright yellow, illuminating.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
And then torn t was ultimate gray, the very first
color ever nineteen ninety nine cerulean.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Was that a bright sky blue color?
Speaker 3 (20:09):
What was the one ultimate gray? I'm looking at it,
boring gray?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
It was the ultimate gray, babe. So what do you
make of pan Tone's response to all the backlash?
Speaker 3 (20:24):
It was well written. It was probably prepared ahead of time,
is what it felt like. And it felt like they
had they didn't react, they were ready, right, So it
I think this was maybe an expectation. I again, I want,
I get it, and I understand and having discussions, and
I think all of that is healthy. I just hate
(20:44):
sometimes it's always outraged. You talk about a color, and
then you say there's controversy, and now there's race and
a little like it's just everything. This is so fun.
It should be just to talk about colors and there's controversy.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
That's the thing I was looking to write this. I thought, oh,
this will be fun. We'll have a great time on
this episode, because you know TJ always gets so annoyed
and rolls his eyes when I start describing colors the
way Pantone describes colors.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
This will be fun.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And then I was really shocked to say, oh wow, okay,
look at this.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
We've got a controversy.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
So twenty twenty six, everyone Pantone says, you'll be wearing
cloud Dancer.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
But maybe in opposition, you'll go with Ebony.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
In opposition, what do they call black over Pantone?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Anyway, that's why I went with Ebany. I tried to
find some other way to call Midnight.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
I don't know, I wan'll be curious to look up
and see what Pantone calls the color black look. Yes,
I will be wearing a lot of white.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
Cloud Dancer on right now. I'm looking at you.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
That's what you want to call it, all right, folks,
Just it's just the color. At the end of the day,
it's just the color. Wear it, don't wear it, like it,
don't like it, but we we got other things to
argue about. And with that, folks, we always appreciate you
spending some time with us. For my dear Cloud Dancer
fiance and Rot, I am TJ.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
Holmes. We will talk for y'all. Sit the ten
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