AT&T going orange? Color me puzzled.

Inexplicably oblivious to the beating being enjoyed by Vonage in court and on Wall Street, AT&T today announced that it is abandoning blue in favor of orange as the company's primary corporate color. (Although not including the corporate logo, apparently.)

Orange? Maybe someone at AT&T took one of those Vonage boxes off the noggin.

Yes, orange seemed to do OK by Cingular before the modern incarnation of AT&T gobbled up that carrier, but it strikes me as an odd choice for such a venerable brand name, even if the company is determined to go all Hollywood on us with, as this story suggests, "a younger, edgier style associated with wireless."

Orange, a little Googling reveals, is associated with many, many things, not all of them necessarily hitting the younger, edgier bulls-eye. Here's a handy-dandy Web page devoted to the topic, from which we learn a lot about orange that apparently escaped the AT&T marketers. The introductory paragraph, while offering a fair and balanced view of the color, also should have served as warning enough:

"Orange, a close relative of red, sparks more controversy than any other hue. There is usually strong positive or negative association to orange and true orange generally elicits a stronger 'love it' or 'hate it' response than other colors. Fun and flamboyant orange radiates warmth and energy. Interestingly, some of the tones of orange such as terra cotta, peach or rust have very broad appeal."

We learn that orange stimulates activity and appetite, while also encouraging socialization, all of which could reasonably be expected to translate into telephone service subscriptions. Nothing wrong there.

Ah, but then there's the Sacral Chakra: "Orange is the color of the Sacral Chakra, also known as Svadhisthana. This chakra is located beneath the naval, close to the genitals. The Sacral Chakra is linked to the sexual organs and reproductive system."

Not exactly family friendly, in other words, unless you're talking about starting one.

It seems orange represents gluttony in Christianity, or so this site asserts. Perhaps AT&T is looking to promote excessive consumption; maybe accelerate the already run-amok proclivities of teenagers to text message one and all.

The Dutch will be down with AT&T's color scheme.

We're reminded that an airliner's black box is actually orange, although cannot imagine the AT&T marketers want to conjure up images of crashing boxes.

And did they give so much as a moment's thought to Agent Orange. Didn't think so.

The Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants incorporate orange into their uniforms, which isn't going to win AT&T any points with anyone outside of Baltimore and San Francisco.

Home Depot and Harley-Davidson embrace orange, too, and while neither do-it-yourselfers nor bikers are ordinarily associated with youthfulness, it's safe to presume they - and their kids - all require telephone service.

It's a mixed bag this orange.

And we'll bow out of the topic with a quote that seems to say it all about the AT&T color switcheroo: "Orange is the happiest color," said Sinatra.

Of course, not for nuthin' did they call Frank "Old Blue Eyes."

(Update: How could I have forgotten this one -- "The network industry’s most colorful story ever" -- from our archives? And the even more relevant accompanying story: "Orange you glad this U.K. mobile company isn't called Pecan?")

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