Since 1999, the Pantone Color Institute has chosen a “Color of the Year” annually, meant to inspire design revolving around said color. For 2026, they went with an off-white shade called “Cloud Dancer,” calling it “a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection.”
The Color of the Year backlash
Choosing a shade of white as the Color of the Year during a time when the Trump administration and its allies are whitewashing history, axing DEI programs, and signing off on profiling people based on skin color gave some people pause.
“i know it’s just a color and it’s not that deep etc etc but pantone picking white as the color of the year during a time where white s*premacy is on the rise is so,” wrote @svviftlet.
X user @CoraCHarrington quipped, “Pantone, observing the state of the world: Things are looking very WHITE right now.”
“Pantone picking white as the color of the year is equivalent to the concept of straight pride month,” wrote @yeobite.
“Pantone’s color of the year being “a neutral white” is far too much irony for me to handle,” wrote @franklinleonard.
“Pantone choosing white as the color of the year is definitely social rage bait. How to get your color of the year noticed? Make it something people are angry about & willing to comment on,” wrote @samanthajmarin.
Is the Color of the Year racist?
Liking, promoting, or using a shade of white obviously isn’t inherently racist. But the question is more about whether this was attempting to send some sort of message that white is in—and not just when it comes to design.
Admittedly, that’s not something we can know the answer to. What we do know is that it wasn’t long ago that American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney Has Good Jeans/Genes ads had people debating over whether the whole thing was a dogwhistle for eugenics and white supremacy.
In other words: anyone running a marketing campaign, in theory, should be aware that this is a time when people are on edge. Is it possible someone might use that knowledge to stir up controversy and get attention? Sure. And yes, it’s also possible it’s not that serious.
“Skin tones did not factor into this at all,” Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, told The Washington Post. She also noted that people had raised the same question over previous years’ choices like Peach Fuzz and Mocha Mousse.
“People were weighing in and asking if this was about skin tones. And I think we were going, ‘Wow, really?’ Because for us it’s really about, at such a basic level, what are people looking for that color can hope to answer?”
Even taking Pressman’s commentary at face value and assuming there was no darker intention behind choosing a shade of white as the Color of the Year, that still doesn’t mean it was the best decision. In fact, most of the backlash suggested the choice was tone deaf rather than outright malicious, and that it failed to take into account the current climate.
“Choosing an almost-white shade as the Color of the Year right now is hard to separate from the broader cultural context we’re living in,” reads one of the top Instagram comments on Pantone’s post. “When white supremacy is resurfacing loudly in national leadership and policy, elevating ‘white’ as the symbolic color of the year feels painfully tone-deaf.”
“Color choices don’t exist in a vacuum – they reflect who was in the room, whose perspectives were missing, and what messages get unintentionally reinforced. I wish this decision showed more awareness of the world marginalized communities are navigating every day.”
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