Mocha Mousse? That’s your choice for the 2025 Color of the Year? Were other colors not available? And I know you know what color looks like. If you need a reminder, scroll through past colors of the year on your website. But selecting what is essentially brown for 2025?
What gives? What aren’t you telling us?
I love that you’ve tried to dress it up in your press release. “…a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.” That certainly sounds better than telling everyone you landed on shit brown for the new year.
I realize you spend a great amount of time making these selections, and often those decisions are made much earlier than the end of the year. However, with the craziness of this year’s election cycle and the potential (now realized) of Donald Trump and his merry band of wackadoos returning to power, I would have opted for something a little more cheerful.
One of the colors from the Floral Pathway – “A cornucopia of suggestively scented floral tones, blended with a soft mocha and a shaded willow green, leads us down a cobblestone path.” – would have been a better selection. (Kudos to your marketing folks, by the way. The descriptions sound like they were written by an architect.) You have blue, green, and purple as part of that palette, and all would have been better than brown.
I haven’t been this perturbed since Sherwin-Williams decided their color in 2021 was Urbane Bronze. Which was supposed to be calming even though most of us were feeling anything but. Sure, COVID vaccines were coming out, and we were starting to crawl out of our shells. However, after the tumult of 2020, something brighter and perhaps uplifting would have been nice.
Ditto, Pantone. Ditto.
My first reaction when I was sent the article was that every queer person at Pantone decided brown was going to fit well with what we worry is coming our way in 2025. But perhaps that’s a bit too cynical. As I said, I know these choices are often made early in the year. And judging from the number of brand partners on your website, the design world has had plenty of time to incorporate brown Mocha Mousse into their own products.
You were even able to garner a shout-out on Stephen Colbert’s show with his notion that we shouldn’t be painting our walls the color of what we like to drink. I hadn’t considered that, although I do like an iced mocha in the morning. I just wasn’t expecting that to be on the walls.
Consequently, I expect 2026 to feature something vibrant, something cheerful, and something I won’t roll my eyes at. I am expecting nothing less. Unless the world falls apart by next December, then you are welcome to pick any color you like.
Just don’t expect me to use it.
