Thursday, September 8, 2022

Not Yellow

I'm just back from another road trip. While traveling across the country, I had the chance to ruminate once again about the trucking company called Yellow. You know, the one with the orange logo:

Just after driving past that truck, I saw an actual yellow truck:

Which wasn't part of the Yellow Corporation.

Well, I knew there had to be more to those orange Yellow logos, and of course there is. 

The Yellow Corporation's Wikipedia page gives lots of information on all the mergers and acquisitions along the company's way, but the basic idea is that originally the founder used actual yellow, and even coined the use of the term yellow cab. (He didn't get the national trademark, though. Oops.)

But fairly early in the company's existence (1929), the company's managers decided (with the help of consultants from DuPont!) that orange had the best visibility. And not just any orange, but specifically "Swamp Holly Orange, "whatever that name means.

I don't know... school bus yellow seems pretty visible to me, and fits a lot better with a company named Yellow. 


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