Next Monday (21 Jan) is Blue Monday, deemed by some to be the most depressing day of the year. The fun of Christmas is over, credit card bills are in and payday still hasn’t arrived. On top of that it’ll be a dark, cold winter’s day when staying in bed seems a far better idea than getting up and going to work.
But this year, Blue Monday has undergone a makeover and been restyled as Blooming Monday by Mental Health Research UK. The charity is asking us to exchange our work “uniforms” of drab black and grey and flaunt an amazing technicolour wardrobe instead – the idea being that brighter colours make us feel happier and more positive. Whether or not a pair of red shoes is enough to dance the January blues away, we think Blooming Monday is a fine excuse to bring a bit of flamboyance to the office.
Needless to say the female contingent at Cobb PR is showing a lot more commitment to Blooming Monday than the male. So to encourage the boys to embrace their inner dandy, I referred to Ask Andy About Clothes, the self-claimed world’s most popular website devoted to men’s clothing advice. Andy says that colours can say a lot about the wearer and can also influence the behaviour of others around. He urges his readers to: “Reach deep down inside and pick a feeling” and provides this very handy guide to the meaning of each colour:
RED – Dominance, power, attention, sexual energy, health, determination, passion, persistence, excitement, strength
PINK — Upbeat, good health, calming, friendly, compassionate, faithful, femininity, calm
ORANGE –Happy, courageous, successful, enthusiasm, bold, adventuresome, friendliness, warmth, informality, welcoming, movement, energy
BROWN – Informal, reliable, approachable, relaxed, stability, earthy
YELLOW – Anxiety, alert, optimistic, confident, stimulating, enthusiastic, playful, cheerful, communicative, expressive, intelligent
GREEN – Relaxing, compassion, prosperity, prestige, growth, abundance, money, vitality, harmony, efficiency
AQUA –motivated, active, dynamic
TURQUOISE –Refreshing, cool, imaginative, innovative, youthful
BLUE — Loved, high regard, knowledge, authority, trust, serious, responsibility, peace, social status, caring, good health, tranquil, intuitive, happiness, calm, honest, loyalty, integrity
LIGHT BLUE — Peaceful, sincere, affectionate
INDIGO — Knowledge, power, integrity
PURPLE — Spiritual, passionate, visionary, regal, powerful, respected, dignified, luxurious
LAVENDER — Romantic, imaginative, fantasy
MAGENTA — Outrageous, imaginative, innovative
BLACK – Elegance, authority, dignity, sophistication, seductive, mystery
GREY – Brainy, class, efficiency, sophisticated, confidence
WHITE – Virtue, fertility, clean, status, prosperity
We’ll be posting pictures next week showing the Cobb PR team in its true colours – read into them what you will!
By the way, Blue Monday was devised a few years ago by a psychologist as part of a PR campaign for Sky Travel. You can see the logic – booking a holiday gives you something to look forward to. Apparently the date was calculated by using several factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action. The equation itself has been dismissed as pseudoscience and even its creator has said it is meaningless. But despite the bad press, Blue Monday continues to make an appearance every January in one PR guise or another.
For more information about Blooming Monday visit www.mhruk.org