The Colored Rhetoric of Advertising



This is a great infographic entitled Psychology of Color - Analysis of Brands Color over at uFunk.net.

Remember advertisers are experts at the use of rhetoric and color is just one aspect.  What do you find most surprising to learn about your favorite color?


Comments

  1. I love this! I have learned a lot about this topic, because I love graphic design. My best friend currently studying at UC Davis is creating his own major - The Psychology of Design. Two years ago Tim (my best friend) and I designed our whole high school yearbook together from scratch. Along with Tim, my uncle Craig is a web designer that I talk to every week. When discussing my future school, major options, and interest we always end up on the topic of graphic design. I knew a great deal about this concept and learned a bit more from it. It is such an interesting idea that makes an incredible amount of sense.

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  2. My favorite color is purple. I didn't know purple was used in anti-aging products, or that it is used to soothe or calm. Whenever I'm clothes shopping, I gravitate towards sweaters or tops that are purple. It is also related to spiritual life and experience.

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  3. I listened before about the psychology of color. It is really interesting how is so present in our day by day. Even when we choose what color to wear, we are really showing how we feel. The most interest information for me was the chakra's meanings of the colors, because I didn't know it before really well. About the statistics that they mention it is really true that color help you study and more if there is something relate with math.Something that call my attention is how the brands really go well with the color that they have.

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  4. i liked this article because color has its own way of meaning things for example if your mood is blue your usually sad, red angry and brighter colors like yellow represent happiness, sunshine and warmth. Color is also a way people can express themselves in fashion by wearing different colors to express what colors they like . Color is a way people express what they like to wear and what colors are their favorite and what colors are not.

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  5. The psychology of color talks about how nearly 85% of people purchase things because of their color. This seems obvious is it's clothes. 93% say its visual appearance, again this seems obvious, why would you buy something that didn't have an appealing appearance. Colorful ads are read more than ones in black and white. But what about Craigslist where everything is black and white, would the photos included make a big difference?
    By Color-
    Red: Evokes a strong emotion and increases appetite and heart rate, so it makes sense there are a lot of red food brands.
    Yellow: Evokes optimism and cheerfulness. Perfect for Ikea when you're imagining your perfect new apt.
    Blue: Peaceful, non-invasive, and secure. Secure = good for social media.
    Orange: Aggressive enthusiasm. Wanna fanta?
    Green: Relaxing and healthy. I don't get why monster energy would use it.
    Purple: Soothing, Successful, and royal. Crown Royal indeed.

    Fun little info-graphic essay to look at. I'd almost consider it a paint-by-numbers for newbie marketers fresh out of school. I would've like to see a synthesis of colors and how they work when combined.

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  6. My favorite color is orange. After reading this color I found it very interesting that the color signified aggression and it "creates a call of action: buy, sell, subscribe." I found this interesting because I tend to have a little bit of a shopping problem, it isn't as bad as it use to be but it still is there and this article kinda made me wonder if orange is my favorite color could it possibly have anything to do with it.

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  7. psychology of colors just merely talks about everything in life, its pretty interesting, I feel like it also talks about moods i.e. the red means anger, and if u put the letter D in anger it makes it Danger, it could also mean an emotional sign like love. blue kind of signifies calmness, it could also mean cold, peace and so on. yellow, signifies happiness, joyous etc.. purple signifies royalty,anti ageing products and so on,. Green signifies relaxing and healthy, to some extent it just doesn't make sense to me. its funny that all this colors represent something in our lives.

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  8. An old culinary professor once said to me, before anyone ever takes a bite of your food, they will like it or hate it based on what it looks like.

    I remember the first time I noticed that both McDonnald's and Burger King's logos were red; and then I realized Jack in The Box was red, and Wendy's, and Carl's Jr., and KFC, and In N Out, and Five Guys, and Panda Express, and on and on. My head was spinning.

    We are primarily visual critters so it makes sense to me that we have these seemingly automatic associations with colors and many other visual cues. These visual heuristics might be evolutionary holdovers from an earlier time, or possibly just something that we do as weird humans. Either way it's pretty cool.

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  10. Interesting article , colors have a huge impact on our behavior /our life in general , for example yellow is a bright color and I always define yellow as the color of the sun . Yellow is too bright that sometimes we get irritated by looking , and sometimes the bright color brings the joy of enjoying a sunny day . So our behavior depends on the environment and the colors surround us . On the hand other , it was kind surprising for me that Orange means caution , I always thought that red was the caution's color ( interesting)

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  11. It's interesting to see and realize that a lot of thought is put on advertising that even color makes a difference. I do believe and agree that color has a big affect on consumers. I am guilty of it aswell, color catches my attention before anything else. It was interesting to see the colors broken down into categories. What was most suprising to me was that the color yellow makes babies cry! It just proves that color is a big impact in our lives. What I didn't find suprising was that Red has a lot more brands under it. Red is a very popular color that catches everybodies attentions and creates all kinds of emotions and relates to many things! Over all, interesting.

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  12. One thing that I found interesting about my favorite color, blue, is that while it is supposed to evoke calmness and peace in the viewer, it also increases productivity. I would assume that a color that made one feel at peace would not make them want to be any more productive.
    Although this article did clear some things up for me. I always wondered why offices and professional settings were set with a grayish, blue color. But now I see that since blue both increases productivity and creates a sense of trust in the company, its beneficial to have your office color scheme as blue and gray to keep your employees happy (even if they aren't cognitively aware of why).

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  13. This works great for writing papers on advertisement, but is this not too generalized? Maybe they should point out that its more of a correlation than fact. Yellow has never made me feel cheerful, or made any of the babies I know cry. Red might remind me of a food, but the color in itself has never made me hungry. I'm a man, yet not a big fan of blue. Maybe I'm weird, but not as weird as all that chakra stuff. Even though this might be based on pseudo science, it fit nicely in my last paper, I just wouldn't use any color psychology as my only support.

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  14. I am not too surprised with the fact that ads in color are read more often, because colors stand out and black and white is boring. Although, I am a little shocked that so many people buy a product just because of the color. 84.7 percent is way beyond what I would think of it. As for my favorite color, I have heard a lot of random facts on it that are actually in this article. Like red is the color of love or passion, and how its communistic or the color for republicans, and also how it stimulates appetite. When I first heard about that, I started realizing how many restaurants have red all over the place. The most common area I have seen are the seats. One thing that I found was pretty obvious but never thought of was that red is the color of sale products, and now that I do think of it, when I see red in a store, I immediately think it is going to be much cheaper. Even though red is a pretty common color, I was still surprised to see that the author was able to find much more companies with the color red than any other color. I would think blue would have had more than that and came a lot closer to the amount of red companies, since blue is also a very common color.

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  15. This infographic is really interesting and actually makes a lot of sense to me. My favorite color is purple and many people can tell that it is my favorite color just by observing me. My backpack is purple, my school supplies are all purple, and even my bedroom is themed purple. So, the psychology of color is familiar to me in my everyday life. However, it did surprise me that none of the companies associated with the color purple are not any companies that I would usually favor. Most of them I didn't know the logo was purple.

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  16. This is very very interesting. Like somebody already said above, some of the stuff make sense. Thanks for sharing! I'm gonna read that again.

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  17. This kind of stuff is so cool! I do know that advertisers are incredibly good at what they do, however I did not know that each of the different colors are meant to stimulate something different in your brain. One of my favorite colors is purple, and it was interesting to find out that ads with the color purple are meant to be soothing or calming. Also, it said that purple is often used in anti aging products! I found that interesting because I wonder if more people will buy these products just because of the color of their ads.

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  18. I love how vivid this infographic is and it is very easy to read and understand. My favorite colors is green and blue. The psychology of the color green is associated with being relaxed and calm. Which is generally why I like to gravitate to the color because of how calm and relaxed I feel when I'm around a lot of green. Maybe that is why I also like being in nature so much. My other favorite color is blue and the psychology that is related to is security and trustworthy. I do not totally agree with this just from how I feel about the color blue, but I have realized that most security systems that you can purchase for your home, the logo is blue itself.

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  19. I have always found psychology interesting, and to learn about the psychology of colors adds to the excitement. Prior to reading this diagram, I had a minimal knowledge of the correlation between colors and personality, but I never learned about how it triggers specific emotions and sends certain messages. As a kid I had always wondered why companies chose certain colors, and this article helped clarify the rationale behind it. As an advertising minor, I will be on the lookout for companies colors because I now know that the colors indicate more then a design.
    Another thing I found interesting was when it states that "84.7% of people cite that color is the reason for purchasing a product." I had no idea that the number was so high or even existed. This article informed me that there is a lot to the appearance of an item; significant brainstorming and planning go into the creation of the finished product.

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  20. Orange happens to be my favorite color and after reading this blog, I have been shocked at how color affects choices we make in the marketplace. "84.7% of consumers cite color as the primary reason they buy a particular product." That is quite shocking to find out that a simple color can truly influence people as such. What I found interesting about orange is that it is associated with warmth and one of the biggest companies which is Amazon. I understand from a marketing and sales standpoint how they purposely link the logos to the color(s) so that we can remember them. For example, you can ask anyone from a young child to an elderly man or woman what the McDonald's Logo looks like and you will most likely get a spot on explanation. This is because of the simple colors and the repetitiveness of the logo whether it be television, billboards, online and more. Obviously blue and red are the biggest colors as most advertisement is centered around either of the two. Orange, for example is somewhat noticeable as I can even recognize it on the logo throughout this Blogspot website as well as Discover, Mozilla, and even Payless. I feel like these colors represented on this blog are somewhat symbolic of horoscopes as the colors have links to traits and characteristics that might be shared by the person viewing it. As proof by the statistics in this blog, it is evident that looks mean so much in the real world whether we like it or not (business sense). Regardless of the shocking statistics displayed in this blog, it was fun to be able to learn about the links that colors have to businesses and logos.

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  21. It was interesting to see the connection between color and psychology, even though I don't know how much of it I buy. I agree that the color blue can represent calmness or serenity (think water), but I don't know if you would be able to go as far as saying that the color blue can create a sense of security and trust in a brand. Colors bring out different emotions for different people so I do not think that you would be able to go as far as to generalize the color of blue with a feeling of calmness and security. For a person that has almost drowned in the ocean, the color blue can bring out feelings of fear or anxiety. I would be interested in knowing how they came up with these results - I would want to know how the study was conducted and how many individuals participated in the study.

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  22. Does blue really related communication or truth or self-expression as its charka part said? I was surprised to know the color blue actually represent communication. To observe some representative companies who chose blue as their logos’ main color, I was even more astonished to see some familiar icons, like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Skype. In deed those big internet communication firms as well as some industries related to customer service favor blue color. But this idea didn’t jump up until I saw they were listed on the same row. What’s more, even worldwide politics uses blue, which was surprising to know. What’s really confusing about the explanations under the blue color is that in my old view color blue is the purest, coldest and saddest color that it rejects other people from interaction just like the personality or emotion blue represent, but isn’t that contradicted to communication? What I really do not understand is why on earth blue increases productivity? I hope there are some scientific researches to back it up. Without further studying I still think defining colors to locate certain types of customer is inflexible and metaphysical, but it is interesting to use psychology or sense to do marketing. We will see where it can lead us to go.

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  23. I found this very interesting because I didn't realize that people really focused on color that much. I figured someone would buy something a certain color because it was there favorite color. But in reality it was because their emotions reacted to he color in a positive way. My favorite color is red and I knew that red roses symbolized love but I didn't know that it stimulated appetite. After reading everything colors do and looking at some companies with the same colors I saw that a lot of big corporations used multiple colors on their logos to get a lot more people to go in. Like McDonald's they use red to make people hungry and yellow to make them feel warm when eating there. Another company that uses primary colors would be Ikea they use yellow to make people happy and blue to make people feel safe/ All of this was very interesting and I will keep an eye out when buying stuff to see if I am affected by color.

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  24. It's safe to say that I am part of the 93% that looks at color before anything when looking at a product that I would potentially buy. It makes me wonder if those who are color blind, to the point where they can only see in black and white, make better decisions when choosing what to buy. When those who can perceive color look at a product, they can be swayed to purchase it solely based on its color. If the seeing color was taken out of the picture, you would think that someone who could not see colors at all would make decision based on areas more important than color.

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  25. I actually found this really interesting because I have never thought of these things before. When I looked at the logos of different places I wouldn't think that each of their colors would represent anything. One of the major things that stood out for me was looking at the Starbucks symbol and seeing what the color represents, it represents money, nature, and health but Starbucks isn't really healthy so that's awkward. When I looked at some of the symbols with the colors it doesn't really make sense then the others one's make complete sense. The whole Chakra thing I thought was really weird because I tried to imagine what they said about that color with the Chakra and I didn't really understand it but I guess it makes sense in a way. When I read the percentages about why people buy certain things and I definitely agree with because I do all of those things. I mostly look at the color of things and I also make sure to look at the appearance of it to make sure I like it.

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  26. Psychology of Color I found to be extremely interesting because I never knew how much of an impact colors had on advertising. I figured that most advertising companies would focus on using sounds and celebrities to grasp the audiences attention. My favorite color is purple and I did not realize how much I can relate to the color. Not only could I personally relate to it, but I see what the audience is portraying when advertising this color specifically. The color purple's emotion area said that it was wealth, success, and wisdom and some companies that use purple to express these emotions are Crown Royal, Hallmark, and Wonka. Both Crown Royal and Hallmark use a photo of a crown expressing royalty and wealth, but by exemplifying them in purple only expresses the emotions even more. Besides being surprised on how this color affects advertising, I was also surprised to learn that in the Chakra it also focuses at the top of the head "The Crown Chakra", where it is related to life and experience. The Crown Chakra also is also connected to the divine, pure consciousness, and transcendence. These appeals to the color purple I found to be surprising because as it has different appeals, I feel as if I can relate to it as an audience of advertising and as someone who favors the color with personal views.

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  27. Colors have always represent different things for all of us. Some colors have a more general definition such as red being love or passion it's the fact those are fiery emotion and red is a fiery color. Blue is calm and tranquil which relates to the sky or the ocean, both however can become wild and full of rage during rough weather or storms.

    There are general connections we all make with colors subconsciously or consciously that's why the are certain ads that use certain colors. Like for movie posters the colors blue and orange are used because they complement each other. The color orange represent human skin because its the closest color to it on the color wheel while blue is a color that complements orange.

    Here some good examples Disney Pixar's Brave, 127 days, any other the three Transformers movies. This isn't just done in movies but other ads to since I read a Cracked article on the subject I've notice it quite a lot. The article goes on to explain that for each genre there is a corresponding movie color. Which mean we are subconsciously aware and more knowledge about a movie based on a few images we may see about it. That's not to say you can determine an entire movie by its color, it's just something to take note of.

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  28. At first, I never really put into thought about how colors truly effect what some people buy.For example, clothes. I never realized how I fit into those categories and true they are. The appearance, color, and definitely the texture take a toll if I would buy it or not. As for the colors and what they symbolized, I never realized that either. I don't really believe in the whole Chakra thing but that was interesting to read about. I understand why somethings relate to the certain color like red and how it symbolizes urgency in sales because people probably relate it to "emergency" when they see it. Also, I never knew that purple was used for royalty. As a NBA Sacramento Kings fan, purple and black are the team's main colors and I never associated purple with royalty and now that I'm aware of these things, it all makes sense now.

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  29. My favorite color is black. But since black is not there, I would say that red comes up next on the list. Black counts as a shade anyway. It's interesting how I never really noticed that red was politically related, but I still see it around, like on a Communist flag. I'm still trying to figure out when I saw the relationship between Republicans and red though. Most things about red are straightforward that most people know or can figure out: love, temper. One thing that I knew but never noticed was how red increases the urgency of a sale. Maybe that's why I always walk towards the rack with the red sign when I go shopping. I'll start to notice colors more on products and advertisements now just to see what ways the sellers want to connect with their customers/consumers.

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  30. It is so interesting that people are more prone to buy a product if it is being displayed with a really nice shade of color that makes it look very appealing. The product doesn't even have to be that great, and could be way overpriced, but because of the product being displayed with a mix of some nice primary colors such as red or blue, the buyer will at least take a look at it and show some interest instead of just blowing it off. Another interesting concept, is how the individual colors make the person feel about a certain product, or information. These primary colors can make a person feel more at peace, or passionate, or even enthusiastic just because of the colors. If the same ads were in black and white, it doesn't seem like there would be a showcase of emotions and happiness from the individual interested in reading a blog, or looking at a product. However, if the same blog or product was all decked out in a nice mix of colors, I can see how a customer/consumer would likely become more interested in the product.

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  31. It was pretty amusing to see about these analyzes of color and how they relate emotions,. politics, and businesses altogether. I do understand how it affects your decision of what to buy because when i go shopping for clothes i usually pick out my favorite color or its what stands out to me more when looking. I do think color has to do with your emotions and transmits feelings. Color has a lot of affect to every one. Certain businesses are known for these colors and you immediately relate to them and are what stands out more, the name brands that you recognize. Also they have been now conditioned to certain things such as red and yellow being where sales are, so color has helped with the increase of sales in businesses. My favorite color is blue and it is true that it is known to cause calmness, because when working at a preschool we would try to have blue stand out everywhere in the classroom so that kids would feel more calm. We would try to make the rooms as blue as possible. I've never noticed how true it is with offices, but i now notice that this might be true and many offices are bland with this color.

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  32. I never knew a primary or secondary color could control consumers. I find it interesting that a large amount of people shop not by the product itself but by color. I was aware that visual appearance is important when buying or selling a product. People who notice colored ads are most likely to return to the brand or tell another. I had no idea that my favorite colors; red and blue have control over consumers.

    Red for instance evokes appetite and increases intensity within shoppers, which is why people get excited when they see red clearance signs. On the other hand blue is associated with peace, feeling secure and trusting a product. Blue builds productively and is mostly seen in office buildings.

    With the examples for each color, I can now see the power color has in our everyday life. What products we purchase and how we feel about them.

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  33. I never really thought about how color plays a psychological role in advertisement. I always thought the most important things in advertisements were the people featured or music played; I always disregarded the color of the brand. I guess I could be subconsciously affected by these colors when I'm looking at them, but I don't get a different feeling when I see a certain color. My favorite color is purple, and it shows royalty, wealth, success, and wisdom. I don't really relate to the royalty and wealth part. I can see how it is used to soothe or calm in marketing because it isn't extremely bright, unlike red used to create urgency in clearance sales. I do relate to purple chakra- spiritual and life experience, pure consciousness- because I think a lot about life and who I am. Purple represents a creative, imaginative, wise brand- this could be true, but I still have a hard time relating the color to the type of brand it represents. Who decided what each color means? I feel like you could say a color relates to anything- red means this, pink means that- and people would psychologically believe it. I'm kind of skeptical about it; I feel like it's similar to horoscopes. I enjoy reading them, but they give a broad description that is easily related to your life. You could give a meaning to these colors, and you could relate it to yourself or emotions in some way. I still think color is important and impacts sales, but I need to understand how it affects us psychologically and who decided what emotions/chakra each color conveys.

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  34. My all-time favorite color is pink, but since it is not one of the colors included in this article, I was extremely surprised to learn about my second favorite color which is red. Although I already knew that red symbolizes love and that it increases passion and intensity, I had no idea that it encourages appetite as well. This was a complete shocker! I think that the main reason why I was so surprised was probably because I had never really paid much attention to the color surrounding the idea of food, but after reading this I realized that many famous restaurants, such as McDonald's and Red Robin, do have a red logo, I just didn't know it meant anything. Another thing about the color red that really surprised me and that I could totally relate to is that it creates urgency often seen in clearance sales. As a female with blurry vision who loves to shop, I can say that there is nothing that gets me more excited than seeing a red sign from across the store (although I can't read it) because I already know what that means: clearance! What I didn't know however was that this color was chosen for this specific purpose. All in all, I didn't know color had the power to mean and convey as much as it really does, but this is surely something I will be paying more attention to from now on, especially next time i go shopping.

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  35. I never really knew how important a color could be for advertising something. My favorite color is purple and learning about how they use the color purple to attract peoples pathos. Looking at the different businesses and how they manipulate they colors was pretty interesting to see. I've always known that purple was a color of royalty but wisdom and success was not close to what i thought it could have possibly meant. The companies with the purple logos in my opinion are some of the most successful and thriving businesses in society. this has done nothing but enhanced my love for purple even more.

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  36. I found it interesting to see the different things that colors represent. I enjoyed reading up on how each color does represent something such as what types of people it might attract or not. I came to find that I buy many products with the color purple, and came to realize it does represent in why I consume products of those colors. At many times I purchase products of purple color because they bring a sense of calmness and state of beauty products. I think it's true that these certain colors have an effect of shoppers, and I found it interesting to also find out what each color represents. The most common one I could think of is McDonald’s. They use a lot of red and yellow. Yellow being a color that promotes happiness, and red being a color that increases appetite. This article opened my eyes even more to see how businesses and corporations work to get society into buying their products.

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  37. It is a interesting coincidence that I represent blue, because it is my favorite color. It was weird at first because I use the products that are blue the most, while I might use at least one or two things from other colors. I find that the personalities for blue does indeed represent me to a T. I am calm and have serenity, I love to have peace, and I am considered a democrat. I feel when reading this, that I should pay more attention to brands that I use everyday and also the brands that my friends and family use in order to know more about their color.

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  38. It is interesting to think of my favorite color as more than just a color and the effects it can have on the human psyche. My favorite color is red and it is associated with strong emotions, stimulating appetites, and affiliated with political parties. My color is related to survival and safety which do not necessarily go hand in hand because if you are forced to survive or die then you will have to do things and make choices that aren’t safe because you have to, to stay alive. That is the reason they contradict. I know that I am an impulsive shopper so this post makes me think that that there might be another reason red is my favorite color beyond that it’s just visually appealing to me maybe subconsciously it appeals to me and that’s why I’ve picked it as my favorite color. I know another reason I really like red because it is a very emotional color and can provoke strong emotional responsive. It is interesting to know all about what my favorite color represents and what it does psychologically.

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  39. My favorite colors would be blue and green and I found it surprising that both colors have some common qualities that I associate myself with like peace, health, calmness, and tranquility. It’s also true that I am a low key tree-hugger in which green often represents nature and blue represents democracy in the U.S. in which I am in fact a Democrat. I find it interesting that blue is related to communication and self-expression and green is related to unconditional love and healing, where I am guilty of having all qualities. I am interested in advertising and how they trick the public’s mind into buying their products or so much as reading their ads. I also love the creative aspect in rhetoric to persuade people.

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  40. My favorite color is purple, which seems oddly fitting based on the information in this infographic. Purple, at least as described in this infographic, is the most related to the mind and intellect. This is interesting because, regardless of my actual intelligence, I tend to value intellect, creativity, and pursuits of the mind over most other things. In fact, I am known for frequently ranting about how I dislike animals due to their lack of intelligence and inability to communicate. (I know, I know, I've heard it before. Animals are so cute, how could you not like them? I don't want to get into it.) The aspect of purple that I am not too fond of is the royalty side of things. I'd like to think that I am not the overly-pompous, better-than-you character that someone who loved a "royal color" might be. Maybe that's a thing I should pay a bit more attention to. -Kane Ashton

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  41. My favorite color is purple and blue. I always thought blue just meant water but it was interesting to find out that it curbs appetite and increases productivity. Blue can kind of represent me because I can be calm and peaceful at times. It was also interesting to find out that purple meant royalty, wealth, and success. I thought that yellow and red meant royalty because crowns usually have the colors red and yellow. Though, I have never seen any kings wear purple crowns or purple clothing to represent their royalty and wealth. I also learned that green helps with depression and workers who work in a green environment have less stomach aches. I am assuming that the color green can help relieve physical and mental pain. I am guessing that walking around a garden helps relieve not only physical pains but relieve stress as well.

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  42. My favorite color is actually pink. Unfortunately they didn't have anything on the color pink, but i have noticed myself gravitating a lot towards blue lately. I have been trying to be more peaceful lately and not get angry as quickly as I was. So to me I found it really interesting that I started to love the color and fill my closet with it around the same time I decided to be more peaceful with my attitude. I also have this thing about always telling the truth and not lying and that is one of the things blue is related to. I find it really interesting how a color can define a person, their emotions, and what attracts them to something.

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  43. What I found most surprising about my favorite color, which is the color blue is how peaceful it is represented. It is known to curb appetites, and is non- invasive. It also creates a sense of security and trust in a brand. What was most interesting to learn was for political parties most represents of conservative parties’ worldwide wear blue. And lastly it is the most used color in offices and it help increase productivity. I must say my favorite color is a good one! (:

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  44. I like the color orange for it’s warmth, for the fact that it’s found in a good sunset and sunrise, and because to me it’s a “happy color”. I have no specific definition as to what makes a color happy. It was interesting to read that the color orange signifies aggression and represents a brand that is “friendly, cheerful, and confident” in marketing. To me that seems like they contradict each other because how can something signify aggression while representing a friendly brand? I knew that the color of royalty was purple because purple dyes were more costly so it felt like a personal victory to read about how orange is the color of the royal family in the Netherlands.

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  45. I had no idea that color had such a great influence on advertising. I mean I did but seeing how the article broke down the whole article on which color gives off certain feelings,emotions, or how it's used for marketing and the politics behind it. For example I had no idea the color yellow was exemplified as a joyful cheerful color and was favored more to the youth. I guess that explains why children prefer Mcdonalds over any other fast food place because of the color. At first I had thought kids wanted to go there because of the happy meals and the playground area but now this article opened my eyes to another alternative which is in fact the color. This was really insightful because of the statistics this established like the fact that 84.7% of consumers use color as their primary reason to buy products or that or that 93% of people look at the color of the product more than the texture or smell of it. This was truly an informing topic that many learn from.

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  46. This article is informative and intriguing. For the most part,I found the information interesting and it gave me a new perspective on the effective of aesthetics on advertising. The only unanswered question in the article, was the product(s) these statistics apply to. For example, the author states 93% of people look at the appearance of the product they are buying, but which product? If I were buying medicine, or other functional items, I would not be inclined to pay attention to the color of the container. I would be more interested in the maker, effectiveness, and pricing. That being said, there is a lot to say about the effect colors have on the sale of certain products, which is effectively exemplified in this article.

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  47. Yes! Color is everything. I find myself to be a very happy person, so I live wearing color, it often gets people to notice you. Which is true about ads as well. Especially now that in my sorority I'm in charge of promoting or table during rush, and making a couple posters for fundraisers. The brighter the flyer, the more attractive and inviting it is. Of course with taste. I've always believed this to be true. When I was growing up and we would receive party invitations I could instantly tell that the party was going to be good based on the look of the invitation. I know it's bad to judge a book by its cover, but reality is it's true. My favorite thing to learn from this however, is that my favorite color, purple, means royalty.

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  48. I found it fascinating how something as simple as the color of an advertisement can have a huge effect on the consumer. Subliminal messages have a bigger impact than people think and we don't realize it until someone points it out to us like in this article. advertisers have to be pretty smart to know which colors would spark people's minds in different ways. I think it is true that most people make a sub-conscious judgment within 90 seconds and that 90% of the time it is based on color. When i'm shopping around and see something i like the color of the object can make a break my decision to purchase it. a lot of the times i find myself thinking "Hmm i would like this better if it were in (insert color here)". It helps to know what feeling each color represents. I never really thought i chose what i wanted to wear based on how i'm feeling but in hindsight i'm starting to realize that most of the time i do choose the brightness of my outfight according to my mood. When i'm feeling cheerful and i'm having a good day i pick bright colors to wear. When i'm feeling a little down or "BLAHHH" i tend to go for more bland and neutral colors.,

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  49. This infograph was really eye opening for me. Being a college student that is interested in advertisement this was a very refreshing approach in explaining how colors are used for marketing. Before I read how each colors is used I decided to write down some of the things that I felt from each color and how they maybe used in marketing. I was surprised that some of the characteristics that I gave each color were right, but I was also not expecting how the author correlated each color to "chakras" in our body. The emotions asspect of the graph was also really interesting because now that I think about it there is a lot of truth behind how these colors are suppose to make you feel.

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  50. Reading the information shown, I'm very surprised and a little shocked as well. I never thought the color really mattered when it came to advertisements. I always assumed that it's all about the message that advertisers are trying to get across. For instance, I saw an advertisemnt for Chik-fil-A once and it really caught my attention because of the way the ad was laid out. The advertisement consisted of two cows. One was in the same position most cows are always in and the other cow was standing on top of the other cow while holding a paintbrush that had painted, "EAT MORE CHIKIN" in huge letters. After looking over the analysis of the brand colors I came to the realization that the colors really does matter because Chik-fil-A's logo color is red. When looking at the analysis, the color red in an advertisment means that it encourages appetitte. So I realized that even though the advertisement contained other different colors that it still all goes back to the logo color and that is really what intrigues the audience.

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  51. I am a strong believer in color influencing our decision to buy something. I see it happen all the time whether it be for myself or for others. My mom doesn't always wear jewelry, but when she does it's usually a piece with a ruby or red in it because it's her birthstone. If an item at a store my mom likes is red, chances are she will be drawn to it. Same with me, I think. Just last weekend I found myself picking out an ice cream and this dessert to eat just because they were green. In an art class I took, the instructor said that green is a calming color so it did not surprise me to see that listed in the chart above. I found it very interesting to find out how these advertisers related colors to the chakras of the body. I have only heard about chakras before and never knew that a color can correspond with a certain chakra. Specifically that green is correlated to the heart chakra. I would think that red would be correlated to the heart chakra because typically in society I find that red represents love. In the end, advertisers are very good at using color to draw consumers in to buy their products.

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  52. This is a fun and very interesting infographic. 84.7% of us use color(s) as of way of distinguishing companies and buy their products. Color impacts and influences us and are decisions subconciously. It was interesting how color could improve learning in certain areas. I was also surprised to learn that color is correlated with certain chakra points in our body. Also I found it interesting how much of an impact color has on us in general and how is used in the real world. For example, the color red is associated with an increase in heart rate and it is used my resteraunt to stimulate appetite. My favorite colors are green and purple. I found it intriguing how purple is used in anti-aging and beauty products. I also learned that green is used in night vision goggles because the human eye can discern it and is the most sensitive to it.

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  53. I was really surprised to read what all the different colors mean because I had no clue that my favorite color blue meant to be calming and peaceful. The infographic was very informative with expressing the different things colors mean when they hit the human eye. I really enjoyed the logos on the bottom of the colors because it gave me a visual to understanding why they chose that color to advertise that company. Like the color red ignites a sense of urgency and appetite. The example used was clearance sale signs and now that I think about it, that means more to us than regular prices and it does make it seem urgent to purchase the item, especially if it is on sale. I found it interesting how the color yellow represents strain on our eyes but also really catches our eye and can encourage communication to occur. When I think of green I think of healthy and wealthy. It does symbolize wealth as well and that was cool to learn. Overall, advertising is what meets the eye and every color gives us a different vibe. It was intriguing to learn the differences in the colors especially since I want to go into advertising myself.

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  54. I enjoyed this post because it was really interesting. I would much rather look at a colored advertisement instead of one in plain black and white. I knew that colors played a big role in advertising, but I wasn't aware of all the attitudes associated with some of the colors. For example, I would have never guessed that red encouraged appetite, but that's probably why McDonalds uses it on their French fry packaging. I never liked the color yellow because it does cause strain of the eyes. I also realized that yellow does get attention from window shoppers because every time I pass by Forever21 their yellow logo stands out to me. It was interesting to read that purple is associated with beauty products. While passing through the beauty aisle it never occurred to me that most products are in fact purple. A lot are also green because of the organic or environmental attribute a product may have. My favorite color is blue. I already knew that it was a calming color and that it was used often in work place environments. That it why it is often seen on computers. I think Microsoft Word encourages work by having a blue setup. I can also see the connection between Twitter and blue since it is a business.

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  55. I can see how in the color purple, marketers would use this color to incorporate a sense of royalty. For example, in the hallmark symbol they incorporate a purple crown to give off a sense of superiority over its competitors. I can also visualize how the different shades of green are used in night vision goggles.

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  56. I was very surprised to see that the color red does the various things such as: “encourage appetite”, “increase passion and intensity”, and most surprisingly “represents communism”. I noticed that a lot of the companies that utilize this color are the companies that I spend most of my time browsing at. Youtube, Target, CVS, and even McDonald’s constantly grab my attention. I always noticed that the red color scheme in the Target stores made me feel happier and increased my mood to browse and shop. Even though communism is not as much of a big deal like before, it is funny to see how many companies have opted to use red for their color. It makes me wonder if there were any earlier companies that used red for their brand that actually scared some people.
    At the moment, I am also focusing on advertising in my Humanities class and I recently wrote an essay about a certain Adidas advertisement I found in a magazine. While analyzing their tactics, I found that they chose to color their ad in black and white instead of the normal colorful theme. This actually grabbed my attention even more because of how much it stood out among the rest of the pages in the magazine. It could just be a personal thing, but I feel that black and white ads these days would still be just as effective as the colorful ones.

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  57. When I look at the emotions my favorite color, blue, evoke, the reasons it’s used for marketing begins to make sense to me. I also find it odd that a color could be so important and analyzed to the point that companies depend on it for gaining customers. The color blue is described as “cold” but also is “associated with water, peace,” with the two descriptions being on opposite sides of the spectrum, although it is “often used in corporate business because it’s productive and non-invasive.” The color has many uses and explanations, which would explain the diversity of companies that use the color in their logos. From corporate banking JPMorgan to snack producer Oreo, the color blue does a good job of advertising the trusted brands and companies.

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  58. I think this entry is extremely interesting. I didn't know that using certain colors in a company/business logo connected so well to their color meaning. I know that the color of the product can matter, because I've had instances where I would choose something that I wanted based on its color. And if the store didn't have the color that I wanted than I would pass it and move onto the next product that does. One aspect of this entry that I thought was funny was when it explained the color red saying that it "evokes strong emotions" and "increases passion and intensity" when Netflix can easily fit within the color's meaning. The same goes for Oreos that the color blue "Curbs Appetite." As for my favorite color Purple, I did learn earlier that it was a symbol of royalty and wealth. However, I'm surprised that it represents creativity, imagination, and wisdom. I didn't think that Purple could represent these things. For instance, I thought possibly yellow could represent imagination since it has such a child-like presentation. But overall, I can side with this blog that colors can defiantly make an impact on which product will sell, or how a company can be represented to the public.

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  59. My Favorite color is purple, and that color has always brought some type of calmness to me but I just assumed it was calming because it was my favorite color. After reading this info graphic and seeing that purple can bring soothing and calming into ones life I realized that maybe its the other way around, maybe its my favorite color because it brings calmness to me not just because its my favorite color. ( I hope that makes sense)
    Overall, it's very interesting to read about the meaning of colors in advertising and it's beneficial to know what they mean for the next time you see an ad because then you will know what is it they are trying to make you feel with their color choices.

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  60. I thought it was very interesting that primary and secondary colors can control consumer on what products they are buying just by it’s color. The most surprising information I received from this blog was the color purple. I never imagine purple meant royalty, success, and wisdom. I would of thought the color yellow or green, because it is the main color of riches. The colors of the crown on kings are yellow and the color of money is green. It was a coincidence that the color also has a meaning of calmness. The color in my room is purple and maybe that’s why I also feel so calm, but then again it’s my favorite color. This was very interesting to read and next time buying a product you can understand the color of the product choice you bought.

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  61. I think this article is very interesting because as someone who is very attracted to colors and loves bright colorful things, I got to see the psychology behind my liking. Although my favorite color is actually a light pink, my favorite primary color would have to be blue. When I see blue things in a store or at a clothing shop, I'm immediately drawn to it. Now I know it's because I'm drawn to a feeling of peace and security. I also realized how aesthetics affect the type of people who shop at a certain store just because of the colors in it. For example I never find myself in stores like Hot Topic, simply because I feel the aesthetics in there are undesirable, yet I often find myself at places like Forever 21 because of the bright lighting and colors they often have. I found this article very informative not only because it shows how and why the media advertises with color, but also how and why people in general are attracted to certain colors. This taught me how to pay more attention to how businesses are advertising and to what type of certain people they are advertising too.

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  62. Being a designer, I'm aware of color's effects on people’s psychology. Though I usually don't associate it with advertising, I can see how big a role it would play in it. When having to choose between two products, one of the main deciding factors is the aesthetics of the packaging. I knew that red symbolizes passion and love but I forgot about how it's used to induce apatite. Many fast food chains use red, along with yellow, to get costumers to think of warm comfort food. Color can also apply to art and clothing. There’s different connotations and ideas it can give off. It’s a powerful tool to display and induce feelings in people.
    -Alma De Luis

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  63. This topic was very interesting, its something so obvious but something you dont give any thought too. This article helps me to believe that its just not a coincidence that they randomly pick a color for their brand but advertisers use this scale actually pick what type of audience or people they want to intreeg for their business. So i defenitley support it and even after i read the article it showed me more description of what the colors actually meant.

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  64. This was probably one of the most interesting topics i've seen today! The idea that our minds actually judge based on color without us even being aware that it's doing so is amazing. I definitely believe that advertisers manipulate the human mind, but I never knew there was this much depth to putting a brand together to market them. I've heard around that red makes you hungry and blue keeps you awake, but I guess there is a whole science behind the concept of color. It makes me wonder what kind of companies have tricked me into doing something I wouldn't normally have done if the marketing color scheme were in black and white.

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  65. Paola Davalos
    English 1002
    Blog Quiz 3
    Its truly amazing how colors reflect and inflict emotions without us even knowing. In psychology class I learned many fast food places use the color red to open one's appetite which attracts customers. It makes sense to me why I always go to Chipotle (red logo) instead of Wing Stop (green logo).
    Personally, my favorite color out of the list is blue. Its quite shocking to me because I am not calm and I can't communicate very well; however, I do aspire to be calm, peaceful, and productive which is most likely why I like the color blue.
    I do agree that men prefer this color because its a very smooth and neutral color. Perhaps its also because they were raised with the color blue all around them (blanket from doctor, mostly blue baby clothes, blue bedroom walls).
    This link could be really helpful for designers or new businesses since it states which colors are best to attract customers.

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  66. Although I had never really paid much attention to the meaning behind color, I completely agree with this info graphic. My room was painted blue when I was younger and ever since I pained it brown I do not feel as calm as I used to. I remember learning about how colors affect your mood in high school and the one thing that stuck with me was to always choose blue because it is peaceful and calm color, ironically it is also my favorite color. This also reminds me of the Full House episode where Uncle Jesse buys "The Smash-Club" and cannot decide what color theme his new club should have. He becomes extremely scared and paranoid when his niece D.J says that a cafe shop closed down within a week because it was decorated in all black and made everyone feel depressed.

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  67. I remember listening to a podcast on this topic. One of the main things I remember from it was that pink was shown to make people very docile and one college football team decided to use this to their advantage by painting the away team’s locker room pink. As a result they began to win more home games. It’s interesting to see the impact colors have on us and companies use this to their advantage.

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  68. My favorite color is blue. I got surprise when it is related to “chakra” because it means communication, truth and self-expression. Also, I didn’t know that blue was the most popular color for democrats in the United States. Personally, when I am looking for jeans, shoes, and or sweaters (clothing in general), I always look for the blue color on it, if the clothes don’t have blue color on it I simply don’t buy it. Speaking of marketing, blue creates a sense of security and trust in a brand. Overall, this color has many different meanings from different perspectives however the most common one is when people always relate blue with water and peace.

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  69. This post was very interesting to read and finding out the meaning of colors was a good experience. My favorite color is purple and I just never knew why. I love the soft/pastel of the color as it always make me feel calm just like what the post said. I have a lot of things in purple, which makes me happy as it is very satisfying to look at. I also like green because it's not too bright or anything, giving me a peaceful feeling; just like laying down on the grass in a park, surrounded by big trees. I've always wondered why they put red everywhere during Christmas, but now I know that red symbolizes warmth, love and passion, which is true as people want to feel warm and get together on Christmas time to bond with each other. It's fun knowing the meaning behind these colors and I did not know that colors heavily influence companies with their advertising until now. It's also very interesting that the things we thought were just mere colors influences us emotionally and mentally as well.

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  70. I cannot disagree more. It all started by the hasty generalization of this "psychology" claiming that when people buy only "visual appearance," "texture," "sound/smell" are what make people's decision. What about the meaning of possessing this item, practical use of the item, the price, and affordability, etc....? I grew up outside of the states, so this could be the reason I hardly find any connection to this article. I guess colors and people's interpretations depend a lot on personal experiences in a culture colors are uniquely defined.

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  71. I do agree that advertising has changed from the old days into today. In the old days, people only cared about the product that was being sold and not about the color. However, today, many people do not only like the object that is featured in the advertisement, but color also means a lot to them as well. Today, many people decide if the article is interesting or not form the color of it. Using colors in advertising has changed the way people view colors today.

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  72. My favorite color of red does reflect my personality well. I’m a pretty emotional person that often has strong passions and perseverance. The advertisements have targeted the power of color because it taps into our natural survival needs and primitive aspect of us. They have researched and now understand that you can’t really deny yourself something that has been developed thousands of years ago by your ancestors. What I didn’t know beforehand was that red increases urgency and increases heartrate and it pushes me to think sort of irrationally and to “buy now” when shopping.

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  73. I found this topic to be one of the most interesting ones I read today. Before this, I just heard how the color blue keeps you awake. Also, I never really thought about how companies and businesses use certain colors to bring more attention to them. I didn't realize there was this much thought and psychology used in creating a business. This made me wonder how companies have tricked me into doing something because of the colors they used.

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  74. EXTRA CREDIT: My favorite color is yellow and so after reading the advertisements that are strictly yellow, I learned many new things. Yellow is bright and vibrant and grabs the attention of shoppers or viewers by the eye. It represents warmth and clarity. That is probably why my room colors are light yellow, grey and white because it gives me comfort and warmth. I feel safe and I love yellow!

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  75. The color Red stood out to me the most. I didn't realize till now a lot of companies use the color red and most of them have to do with food. The color red encourages appetite which is used for people to want to come and eat at their restaurant. Store also use red for clearance or sales because it creates urgency which i have experience at the mall during Black Friday with all the red signs with discounts. What I did't know was it was also used for specifically impulsive shoppers. It also makes sense why valentine decorations happen to be red because when you think Valentine you think red and when you think red you think love. Red evokes strong emotions, passion and love. This now made me think about the deeper meaning of how people use colors to attract the right audience.

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  76. My favorite color is blue. A lot of social media use blue as their image because blue stands for peace, clear of the brand and, moreover, good communication. It sound reflect my personality, in most of the time I am good at communication and also always peaceful. However, I am more emotion not that cold! The biggest feedback from others are "I am always trustful and sincere."

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