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Dulux

Dulux addresses the colourless future in ad campaign sparked by public perception of colour

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

March 12, 2015 | 2 min read

Dulux has announced which colours the UK public associates with each decade discovering that respondents felt the future will have less vibrant colour than previous years, in its latest ad campaign (see video below).

The ‘Colourless Future Census’ study of 2,000 UK citizens commissioned by the paint brand, found that the dominant colour respondents linked with the 60s was sunshine yellow, the 70s purple, the 80s electric blue, the 90s were sand coloured and the noughties gunmetal grey.

Sparking a decline in the vibrancy of the times, the current decade was defined as black. When issued the question which colours could be associated with the future, a majority of respondents said silver, white or grey. Furthermore, a quarter of respondents believed that the 1960s was the year society embraced colour the most.

Colour psychologist Karen Haller said: “If we were to live in a world without colour, we would switch off all natural human feelings and emotion and, in essence, would lose touch with who we really are.

“Without colour the world would be clinical, cold and sterile, it would be devoid of individuality or any self-expression. Having fun and experimenting with colour has a transformative power to influence our mood, behaviour and general wellbeing.”

Marianne Shillingford, Dulux creative director, added: “Colour is the visual seasoning in a bland world. It’s the antidote to sameness and an expression of joy. Colour makes us smile, attracts attention, inspires and challenges us to be individuals.

“At Dulux, we believe that colour has an emotional and transformative impact on people's lives and we don’t want to lose that.”

To supplement the news, the paint firm launched a 60 second advert, created by BBH London, showing this colourless future foretold in the survey.

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