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All right, let’s address the pink polka-dotted elephant in the room.
Bright, in-your-face, impossible-to-ignore pink. It’s everywhere in the world of girl stuff. But it wasn’t always this way. So how did we get here? How did pink become the de facto colour of all things feminine and girly? Grab your Cosmo, put on your fuzzy slippers, and dive in.
See, pink wasn’t always a “girl” colour. In fact, back in the day, it was boys rocking the pink – seen as a bold, fiery offshoot of manly red. But that all changed in the 1940s and 50s as marketers realized there was big money in gendering their products super aggressively.
Introduction:
Bright, playful, and impossible to ignore – the colour pink dominates many spaces labelled feminine, especially in relation to girls. But why does this colour carry so much cultural meaning? Let’s dig into the psychological associations behind the signature pink of a certain global doll icon.
The Rise of Pink
Pink was not always considered a “colour”. It became associated with femininity during the 1940s and 50s when marketers started to genderize products. Magazines targeting children and fashion began promoting pink, as a colour, for girls. The trend reached its peak in 1955 with the introduction of Barbie, a dress-up doll adored by every girl during Christmas.
Barbie took pink to a whole new level, from her shoes to her convertible car. For generations since pink has been a core part of marketing dolls and other products to girls. This created strong psychological associations. Pink symbolised everything feminine, delicate, and beautiful in the cultural consciousness.
The Meaning Behind the Color
From a psychological perspective, pink evokes certain traits commonly regarded as feminine – warmth, nurture, and sensitivity. Light pinks also relate to innocence, optimism and tenderness. It’s considered a calm, comforting colour, like a mother’s embrace.
When it comes to colour psychology, which explores how colours impact our emotions pink is strongly associated with energy and characteristics such, as sweetness, romance and charm. It’s common for girls to naturally gravitate towards pink during their years. This association is consistently reinforced through toys, clothing and media that cater to young females.
The Debate around Pink
However, many people are pushing back on the notion that pink must equate to girliness. Critics argue this sends a limiting message – that external appearance and superficial charm matter more for girls than confidence, strength and intelligence.
Using an amount of pink, in branding like Barbie does might reinforce stereotypes than accurately representing the diverse experiences of girls today. However, for women and girls pink is associated with happiness and empowerment as a symbol of femininity. The colour itself is not the issue; it’s the notions that come with it.
The Pink Case Study with Brands
Hello Kitty – This Japanese character brand aimed at young girls heavily incorporates shades of pink in its imaging and products. The soft, light pink helps associate Hello Kitty with innocence, sweetness and nurturing qualities.
BIC for Her Pens – In 2012, BIC launched a line of pink and purple “BIC for Her” pens marketed specifically to women. However, many consumers found the gendered pens promote stereotypes. The company faced backlash over implying that normal pens were only for men.
Victoria’s Secret Pink – In 2003, Victoria’s Secret launched the Pink sub-brand targeted at college women. The use of bright pink, plus campus-spirited apparel, evoked youthfulness and energy. Pink was a way to psychologically differentiate from Victoria’s Secret’s mature, sexy image.
Pink Tax – Studies reveal products marketed specifically to women often cost more than similar men’s products. Critics argue the pervasive “pink tax” stems from psychological notions that women are willing to pay more for feminine-branded goods.
Breast cancer awareness – The pink ribbon and pink-themed events raise funds and consciousness about breast cancer. However, some argue that over-reliance on pink promotes stereotypes linking femininity and female health issues.
Barbie’s evolution – While maintaining brand recognition through pink, Barbie’s appearance, career and messages have evolved with the times. She now promotes positive messages about being smart, ambitious and inclusive.
This movie made more than $350 million globally in its opening weekend, surpassing its analyst forecast and becoming the highest opening of 2023. Definitely a current trendsetter.
This is also a great example of crowd thinking biases, where everyone from commoners to celebrities wore pink to see the movie in theatres. The younger generation, commonly known as Gen Z has become familiar, with Barbie dolls well. This increased awareness of Barbie is largely attributed to the use of the colour pink, in Barbie’s branding and design.
Intartica– A Branding Case Study by palette69
We recently worked on an interior design branding project named Intartica where we made a strategic decision to incorporate pink in the colour scheme.
The company aimed to attract couples who wanted to renovate their homes. We understood that wives tend to play a role, in choosing a designer so we believed that incorporating the colour pink would have a stronger psychological appeal, to the female decision-maker.
However, we were careful to use shades of pink that evoked sophistication rather than stereotypical femininity. Pink was balanced with blue hues to create a design aesthetic that spoke to both partners in the couple.
The end result was a brand identity that leveraged the subtle emotional impact of pink to impress female sensibilities while maintaining a mature, gender-neutral appearance through the smart use of colour psychology. This allowed the brand to appeal to wives initially while also looking credible and relatable to husbands during the joint decision-making process.
Rather than relying on pink as a tired gender cliché, we thoughtfully incorporated it to subconsciously influence female perceptions, while consciously presenting a skilful, serious brand image. When strategically applied, pink can move beyond female stereotypes to serve nuanced marketing goals.
Pink Going Forward
Pink will likely never disappear from girl-focused branding and products. But the good news is it no longer has to dictate femininity or potential. Pink can take on new meanings – rebellion, confidence, equality. Rather than reject pink completely, many women are reclaiming the colour on their own terms.
Like any colour, pink is not inherently good or bad. Its meaning stems from psychological connections and cultural contexts. While inextricably tied to Barbie and traditional girlhood, pink is being transformed into a symbol of much more – choice, possibility and the freedom for girls to determine their own direction. That’s a redefinition Barbie herself has been undergoing for decades.
In an ideal future, pink becomes simply an option, not an expectation. Girls can gravitate to or avoid the colour without judgement. And pink gets to represent not a stereotype, but the diverse spectrum of what it means to be female.
So where do we go from here? Ideally, pink becomes simply an option – not an expectation placed on girls from birth. And it can represent the diversity of female experience rather than one narrow stereotype. Sounds good to us.
