Color and Products

Today I went to eat lunch at Subway, and began to notice several things from the perspective of a student studying pop culture. Like several other popular chain stores/restaurants such as Panda Express, Starbucks, Target, Coffee bean, etc., Subway has its own specific color patterns, schemes, font types, and logos specific to its own company. This goes along with this idea of consumerism in America, how companies want you to be accustomed to a specific pattern associated with a business brand to alert your brain when you see it. A theme of Subway is that they are wanting you to “eat fresh”, and the colors they use to decorate their bags, cups, walls, etc., are all very clean and fresh colors, i.e. white, yellow, green, as opposed to heavily greasy foods that use obnoxious and nauseating colors (McDonalds, Burger King, Sizzler/very dark reds, browns, yellows, blacks, greens.) This usage of colors and patterns is not random. There is a psychology behind how the human mind reacts to certain colors, and then thus creates different reactions and moods such as hunger or thirst, specifically for restaurants and drink places. Colors such as red or yellow tend to make us hungrier (McDonalds), whereas colors like green tend to make us feel thirsty (Starbucks). As a result, the companies are luring us in by directly attacking our subconscious brains and triggering feelings that they want us to feel. Then, they give in to our wants with their products.