Photo: Vira Mylyan-Monastyrska / Shutterstock
Now that's good marketing.
By Caithlin Pena — Written on Sep 16, 2021
Let's be totally honest with ourselves: not all colors are beautiful.
This is the absolute truth and if someone admits to liking every single color, they'll be getting the side-eye for a while.
While there are some colors that just plainly aren't appealing, there is one color, in particular, that has been dubbed the ugliest color in the world.
That's quite a title; someone call the Guinness World Records stat!
Something like gray might be considered an ugly color, or maybe brown.
Army green is probably up there, too. However, those colors don't even come close to having the same gross appeal as this one color.
According to researchers, this color, "has the power to 'minimize appeal' and 'maximize perceived harm.'"
Words associated with it are, "dirty," "tar," and even "death."
That’s when you know it’s a color that can gross out even the toughest of researchers if they're thinking of death when looking at it.
What is this horrific, disgusting color, you ask?
Drumroll, please.
This color that invokes such a shocking amount of disgust is Pantone 448 C, also known as "opaque couche." It's a mix between a brown and greenish color, one that makes you instantly think of something rotting.
Take a look at it below.
So how does that make you feel? As it turns out, however, this color actually has a special mission.
It's used to discourage smoking!
And we have the Australian government to thank for that.
In 2012, they hired GfK, a research agency, to create a new design for tobacco products.
But instead of encouraging people to buy the products, they wanted people to not buy them at all.
And they wanted to ensure this by making the packaging be as ugly as possible.
Three months, seven studies, and a thousand regular smokers later, they discovered that this opaque couche color is the most unappealing of the bunch.
They even nicknamed it, "drab dark brown." Also included on the list were lime green, white, gray, and even dark brown. It became so effective that even Ireland, the U.K., and France started to follow in their footsteps.
Smoking is an unhealthy and gross habit. Not only does it lead to life-threatening diseases, such as lung cancer, but it's also a great danger to the environment and can even destroy your relationships.
If the world turns away from smoking, it would be a much cleaner, greener, and healthier place to live in overall.
And it's all thanks to that ugly opaque couche color.
More for You:
Caithlin Pena is an editor for YourTango who enjoys books, movies, and writes about astrology and lifestyle topics.