The Pantone Color Institute has announced its 2025 Color of the Year: Mocha Mousse. Mocha Mousse follows this year’s semi-upbeat Peach Fuzz selection, which is exactly what it’s described as – a light, sweet, creamy brown with warm undertones. This is the first time Pantone has chosen brown to distinguish it. Not counting the 2015 earthy reddish-brown Marsala.
As matters of personal taste tend to arise, Pantone’s Color of the Year (and occasionally tandem selections) have been controversial since their introduction in 2000, even sparking online conspiracy theories about the selection process last year. Today alone, people have come out in various comment sections to express their deep hatred or confusion about Mocha Mousse. USA Today even hint boy If the more “demure” milk chocolate shade, green gets the short end of the stick.
Pantone insists it chooses its annual color based on world events, attitudes and trends. This year, the institute’s executive director Leatrice Eiseman explained in a press statement that mocha mousse “expresses a thoughtful indulgence,” calling the color “refined and gorgeous” as well as “an earthy classic.”
I’m not someone who follows luxury, fashion, cosmetics or homeware trends in any way, so I can’t really comment on how Mocha Mousse will impact the consumer market in any way – nor do I really think I care that much in the first place. However, I do find it a bit strange, if not worthy of a sideways glance, that so many people can’t fathom seeing a shade of brown without comparing it to poop.
In my opinion, the mocha mousse brings out the softness of a stuffed teddy bear. Smooth, creamy Dunkin’ hot chocolate (Masshole was born and raised here). Velvety suede is paired with a pair of the most popular boots. Foam frosting that holds the chocolate cake layers together. Pasty organic clay harvested from riverbanks is used in facial masks to draw impurities from the skin. Highlights on the fluffy feathers of the beloved kiwi bird.
Frankly, the mocha mousse is more personal to me, both in color and name. Now that I have a chance to pontificate on my own thoughts, I will say that I have been wearing foundation, eyeshadow, concealer, lipstick, and even nail polish in shades like “mocha,” “chocolate,” and “cocoa.” “Cappuccino” and other decadent drink or dessert names have been around for over a decade. These are the titles that makeup brands assign to my skin tone and the shades closest to it.
I’m well aware of the politics surrounding objectification, fetishization, and consumption of these names, but if I have to be objectified, I’d much rather be compared to a dessert than have my skin color called “shit brown,” “brown diarrhea.” or “dirt” – I’ve encountered these in my life.
Dirt or feces can be brown, but not all brown colors are comparable to dirt or feces. The urine is (hopefully) yellow, but are you pointing at buttercups or cabs and wrinkling your nose? Blood and scabs are red…hell, Pantone even developed its own “Period Red” (just plain red) to acknowledge the stigma surrounding menstruation. But do you ever get a little shudder when you see red velvet cake or rose petals?
I know it’s not that serious, but unfortunately, I’ve always been so unlucky at adapting to the way people react to being brown that I wake up every day and look in the mirror like a perpetually offended Brown Person™.
The only thing I found shocking at this year’s color event was the AI-generated image of mocha mousse, which was so mind-bending yet so sinister that I can’t easily find the words to describe it. I guess you could say I just don’t like that shit… 🤷🏾♀️
