By 2026, the US will ban certain artificial food dyes, putting global brands under pressure to reformulate their most iconic, colour-led products.
At the heart of the issue are consumers. Some want cleaner labels and transparency, while others still connect with the vibrant, joyful brand cues that define nostalgic favourites.
This tension leaves businesses at a creative crossroads: how do you adapt to regulatory and cultural shifts without compromising your brand identity?
Think Heinz and its signature red ketchup: a shade that signals familiarity, trust and quality (so iconic that it has its own Pantone shade). When colour carries meaning, the stakes are higher.
So how do you evolve without eroding what makes you recognisable?
Dial up the joy
Many of our favourite brands’ identities centre around colour – everyone knows Mountain Dew’s neon green and Irn-Bru’s unmistakable orange. The familiar red of Tizer doesn’t just hint at flavour, it taps into childhood memories, long summers and corner shops.
So when we strip away these vibrant cues, we risk losing more than aesthetic. We lose the emotional shorthand that connects people to products.
Yes, consumers value transparency, but they simultaneously crave joy, comfort and a sense of the familiar. And ultimately, that feeling, the one that makes a drink more than just a drink, needs protecting.
Colour connections
Iconic colours don’t just catch our eye, they shape our taste. It connects us to a deep-rooted instinct that tells us vivid means flavourful and bright means bold.
We’re wired to respond to impulse and stimuli, and colour is one of the strongest triggers we have. The challenge is to maintain that iconicity while working within tighter boundaries, which means getting smarter with design.
Much of the work can be done through semiotics: illustration, typography and tone of voice all contribute to how flavour is expressed. If the transparency of the packaging itself is dialled down (due to the product’s change of colour) then other tools need to be dialled right up.
But this can’t just be limited to packaging – brands need to dial up the joy elsewhere too.
There may be a shift in how we discuss colour altogether. Rather than relying on the artificial brightness we’re used to, brands could start to champion a more natural approach by celebrating earthy tones and unprocessed looks as marks of quality.
In that world, synthetic becomes the enemy and authenticity the hero.
When the product doesn’t instantly signal fun or familiarity, it’s the brand that needs to fill in the gaps. Whether it’s through shelf strips, brand worlds, partnerships or content, it’s about finding ways to maintain emotional connection.
By changing iconic colours, consumers are losing a vital part of the brand experience. That bit that speaks to us before we’ve even taken a sip or a bite.
That doesn’t mean opportunity isn’t there – it just requires a little more creativity.
Ryan Spence, senior creative at Born Ugly
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