Is there a common origin to those blue background TV commercials?
I've seen a number of these in my many years of watching TV since at least the 1990s. These are commercials for some random mail order product, and right before the ad ends, the screen cuts to something laid out as follows:
- A solid blue or gradient blue background.
- The price on the upper right, usually in white.
- The phone number (more recently, website) centered, usually in yellow.
- Various fine print at the very bottom centered, in white, sometimes terms and conditions, usually an address.
- Credit card logos directly above or below the price
- The top left has a representative picture of the product, or repeating video from the rest of the ad
- A voice over with someone reading the pertinent info
They seem to have been around for a long time.
Is this a trademarked format, or does it have any background other than "something a bunch of advertisers decided to use"?
There does not seem to be any commonality between the companies and types of products that use it.
Best Answer
Ad people know how to push our buttons.
Psychological analysis on the impact of color shows that people (i.e. consumers) associate blue with concepts such as credibility, being business-like, professionalism, and trust.
IBM was proud to be called "Big Blue." Facebook isn't blue by chance.
Blue is also associated with honesty.
All of these are good associations to create when you are trying to separate people from their money.
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