Quick Hit

For as long as I can remember, orange has been the color to indicate decaf. When you stumble into 7-11 for that morning cup o' Joe, you make sure to grab one of the pots with a brown or black handle, and steer well clear of the orange. I don't know who invented this color scheme, but it seems to be universal, or nearly so.

But no . . . Recently a new food service company took over the cafeteria where I work. They serve "Seattle's Best" coffee, from those big insulated pump-type dispensers. The dispensers themselves are red. The label is beige, and at the top (where it is mostly hidden by the spout), there is light grey lettering that practically disappears indicating regular or decaf. The decaf label has a bit of blue somewhere. Yes, blue. Any third grader can probably tell you that blue is exactly opposite orange on the color wheel.

I'd like to suggest that the herbal tea-drinking marketing/branding jerk at Seattle's Best look for a new line of work.