With One Large Breath, Dandelion Is Blown Out Of Crayola’s 24 Pack

On March 31 — National Crayon Day — Crayola will announce something about the colors in the 24-count box it offers.

Richard Drew/AP


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Richard Drew/AP

On March 31 — National Crayon Day — Crayola will announce something about the colors in the 24-count box it offers.

Richard Drew/AP

If there’s ever been a moment to be cliche and say the cat’s out of the bag, now is it.

Crayola, a supplier of colorful art materials, was set to announce the retirement of one of its classic colors in the popular 24-count pack of crayons. The company planned to do the big reveal during a live broadcast on Facebook Friday morning in New York’s Times Square.

That was what was supposed to happen.

Instead, on Thursday, the colorful company announced that Dandelion — that bright yellow hue — is the crayon retiring to the Crayola Hall of Fame, calling it “an adventurous spirit” with “a case of wanderlust.”

But Dandelion is pretty young for retirement. It was introduced in 1990, after the Crayola Hall of Fame inducted its first eight members. Not to put too fine a point on it, but can you live a fulfilling life and retire before the age of 30? And, if it has a case of wanderlust, how will those adventures happen if it is sitting on a shelf not spreading its colorful demeanor to art projects everywhere?

Right now, it’s unclear why Dandelion’s announcement came a day early; the countdown clock to the big Friday announcement was still on Crayola’s website at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.

But Twitter may have an answer. A user posted a photo of Crayola’s 120-count box of crayons in what he says is a Target store. The problem is that the box clearly says “Dandelion is retiring!” This tweet was posted two hours before Crayola made its announcement on the company’s social media channels.

NPR reached out to both Crayola and Target but as of publishing time had not heard back from either company.

So, maybe it was a mistake, or just an oddly timed marketing ploy, but don’t don’t feel (Cerulean?) blue — there will still be a colorful announcement on Friday, according to Mashable. Remember, a 24-count pack can’t have just 23 crayons. Crayola will reveal a new color, and if the box at Target is correct, there will be a contest to name the incoming crayon.

Creating With Crayola

If you’re still grieving Dandelion, however, you’re probably in good company, as Crayola has retired colors before.

Eight of them — Maize, Lemon Yellow, Blue Gray, Raw Umber, Green Blue, Orange Red, Orange Yellow and Violet Blue — were retired in 1990.

As those colors left the box, we welcomed Vivid Tangerine, Jungle Green, Cerulean, Fuschia, Dandelion, Teal Blue, Royal Purple and Wild Strawberry.

When the company celebrated its centennial in 2003, four more colors — Blizzard Blue, Magic Mint, Mulberry and Teal Blue — were retired, when color addicts chose to save Burnt Sienna from melting away.

Their replacements were Inchworm, Mango Tango, Wild Blue Yonder and Jazzberry Jam.

All that’s left to do is hope that the new color isn’t as redundant as Red Orange is to Scarlet, as bland as Indigo or as putrid as Green Yellow.

All in all, if Dandelion was your favorite color, accept that it was chosen for the Hall of Fame, be proud through your tears, and remember — there’s probably a color similar to it in one of Crayola’s larger packs. Goodbye, Dandelion. Gone, but never forgotten.

And, here:

Article source: http://www.npr.org/2017/03/30/522080531/with-one-large-breath-dandelion-is-blown-out-of-crayolas-24-pack?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

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