“Your choice is about as inspired as mayonnaise,” one person wrote next to Pantone’s announcement about Cloud Dancer on Instagram.
“Pantonedeaf,” another added, while one person commented, “It seems as if this selection, and the content created around it, was conceived in a vacuum completely removed from our collective social and political present. I’d hope a brand that has this much cultural impact wouldn’t operate with such a glaring blind spot.”
The discourse has carried over to TikTok where even non-melanated folks are calling out the color choice.
Mind you, Pantone’s President is Sky Kelly, a Black woman, who explained that the discouse was to be expected.
“At Pantone, we don’t dictate that conversation, we facilitate it,” said Kelly.
Pantone also released a statement on the controversy to TODAY, stating;
“Cloud Dancer visually represents a space to create, like a blank page ready for you to turn your inspiration into reality,” the spokesperson said, in part. “It gives us the ability to become receptive both to what can be and what’s ahead as Cloud Dancer suggests the inner peace we feel after clearing the noise around us.”
Explaining that the name plays a major role to “conjure up a feeling,” the spokesperson said that Cloud Dancer “reflects a universally shared experience: wherever we are in the world, we all look up to the sky.”
What do you think about Pantone’s choice of color for 2026?
