Kay Goldfrank
Professor Newcomb
ENG 170: Writing & Rhetoric
1 December 2020
Contextualizing Crayola Crayons
Binney & Smith paper-wrapped wax crayons were introduced to the American public in 1903 with just 8 colors; a mere 117 years later there are 366 colors and counting (The Strong Museum of Play). Originally, Crayola Crayons began as a “safe and affordable” alternative to the harmful crayons being used by children in schools (Crayola). Each package of assorted colors has a flip top for easy removal and safe-keeping. Cylindrically-shaped with a rounded, triangular point, each individual crayon is uniform, differing only in color. The signature shape and style of Crayola Crayons puts greater emphasis on each color’s name. Targeting American children, Crayola wisely chooses the names of each of their colors, knowing their product directly influences society’s youth. Crayola Crayons are an affordable, fun set of coloring tools that, through their selective marketing, help bring about acceptance and social change in American society.
Crayola’s economical pricing contributed to their prosperity in the mainstream culture of American childhood. The company was in high-demand and extremely profitable very soon into its existence, “In 1903… At a nickel a box, kids snapped them up… By 1996, the company had sold 100 billion crayons” (The Strong). Emphasizing the cheap price of the toy, Crayola Crayons are seen as accessible to all families for children, stressing their efforts to target an audience non contingent on socio-economic status, race, or ability.
Crayola’s products’ success are heavily based on branding and as a company that targets youth, the names of their crayon colors are a crucial part of their popularity. With this in mind, Crayola uses their platform to reinforce new and developing social ideas. Crayola’s audience has never been just white children; they cater to children of all colors and sizes- anyone who had five cents to spend on a pack of coloring tools. In the 1960s, amidst the booming Civil Rights Movement, when traditional constructs of race and equality were being challenged center stage, Crayola changed their color “flesh” to “peach,” in an effort to “[help] open American eyes to diversity” (The Strong). By discontinuing a color representing what skin should look like, and replacing it with a name that conveyed the color’s true description, Crayola emphasized their support for newfound values of diversity and inclusion in American society. Likewise, renaming Indian red, a red/brown color, chestnut (The Strong), was an effective tool in standing up against othering and incessant marginalization of Native Americans. These seemingly small changes in Crayola branding promoted a cultural shift from accepting white supremacy to rejecting bigotry and stressing the importance of racial equality.
Consciously aware of the influence their crayons have on their audience, Crayola carefully constructs each color’s one or two-word names, using them as a platform to help shift and shape American culture through its youth. 117 years in the making, one can look back on the names of Crayola Crayons to see turning points in American, and global, history: “Over the years, appealing new colors tracked fashion trends and cultural change… macaroni and cheese, outer space, purple heart, tickle me pink, and manatee surfaced in the 90s. Names changed too: Prussian blue became midnight blue as people forgot the country” (The Strong). Crayola’s lasting fame and popularity foresees many more colors to be created, and will continue to mark important moments of social and cultural change in ideologies and standards.
Since its introduction into the adolescent education industry, Crayola has used its crayons to define childhood as a universal, yet individualized, experience; that through its crayons, one can discover themselves. Priding itself on marketing in over eighty countries, Crayola reaches a vastly diverse audience (Crayola). In May of 2020, amidst a surging pandemic that left children, around the world, at home with months of time and nowhere to go, Crayola released their newest product: Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons, 24 Count (Crayola). For $2.49, the same price as the Classic Crayola Color Crayon Pack, families can buy their children a pack of twenty-four crayons in numerous shades of brown to color their self-portraits. Crayola’s regular box of twenty-four crayons includes only five shades of brown, requiring children to draw with and settle for colors that might not fully reflect the hues of their reality. It is by way of Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons that Crayola expands its definition of childhood to foster self-expression along with acceptance of people of all skin tones.
In one of the company’s first announcements of this new product, Crayola tweeted, “We hope to cultivate a more inclusive world for children of all ages, races, cultures, and ethnicities” (Twitter). Evident in this statement is Crayola’s assertion that its brand mission is to encourage today’s youth to harmonize and appreciate each other’s differences. The specification of Crayola’s diction, “ages, races, cultures, and ethnicities” addresses issues of systematic biases, inequalities, and injustices that mainstream society is currently confronting with dissent and social activism. Brought to light again in recent years by deaths of black people in the hands of police, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and rise of the resurgence of white supremacist groups, Crayola’s Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons takes a stand on reforming society ideologies that foster such hate and exclusion.
In an effort to appeal to all potential users around the world, the Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons have English, Spanish, and French names of colors written on each crayon’s paper sleeve (Mahadevan). By acknowledging its international and multilingual customers, Crayola presents itself as more inviting, in turn growing its appeal to the public and thus its consumer base. Rather than expecting non-English speaking children to ignore the crayon names, and forgo associating each color with the objects and ideas as intended, Crayola tailored its branding to target its diverse audience.
In a statement advertising the new crayons, Crayola’s CEO, Rich Wuerthele, spoke to Crayola’s objectives: “We want the new Colors of the World crayons to advance inclusion within creativity and impact how kids express themselves” (Rivera). The heightened term “advance inclusion” highlights the difference between becoming more inclusive and shifting the definition of inclusivity. Wuerthele expresses the company’s goal: to shift the societal construct, away from adapting to better fit a larger community, to arriving at the table that is set already for all invited individuals. This shift requires both Crayola and its customers to face the fact that black and brown children and their families were not part of Crayola’s original target audience. Wuerthele expands on his statement, remarking on the growing diversity of the world and Crayola’s optimism that the new crayons will nurture “a greater sense of belonging and acceptance” in Generations Z and Alpha (Rivera).
With twenty-four colors, the Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons are “designed to mirror and represent over 40 different skin tones” (Rivera). “Designed” implies the crayon colors were carefully constructed to target its customers, indicative of Crayola’s recent acknowledgment that its consumer base is much more diverse than its products previously catered to. Alluding to a “mirror” reflection, the term appeals to every child, and parent, and their very human search to see and accept themselves naturally. To achieve accurate hues for the skin tone-inspired crayons, Crayola consulted a renowned MAC makeup chemist, Victor Casale, swatching their crayon waxes with the same methods as foundations (Robin).
The Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons is a selection of exclusive colors which are only available for purchase within the specific box (Crayola). The Classic Crayola Color Crayon Pack holds eight different colored crayons and has one brown crayon (Crayola). The 64-piece box of crayons contains the original brown crayon, along with eight additional beige and brown shades (Crayola). By advertising the Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons as its own entity, separate from the popular and sought-after 64-piece box, Crayola undermines its own mission to “advance inclusion” and down playing the necessity for diversity in children’s creative and educational workspaces. Crayola’s mission to “advance inclusion” may be better served if it includes a greater number of skin color shades in the classic box. This thus reinforces biases instilled in youth that are counterintuitive to messages of embracing self-expression and exploring identity which Crayola promotes.
By way of Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons, the newest product in the crayon collection, Crayola succeeds at bringing the issue of lack of accurate representation of different races to the foreground of public conversation. While there is constructive criticism of Crayola’s attempt at further inclusivity, its collective approach to addressing an exigency for eradicating racial transparency. Without such reforms, children who cannot find themselves in Crayola’s products supposedly marketed for them will reject individuality, instead conforming to and accepting the institutionalized supremacy of whiteness embedded throughout global cultures. Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons helps to expose the reality that including black and brown people in the portrayal of America and other societies around the world is still a new idea on the marketing scene, and Crayola is taking first steps to show the world what can and must be done.
Works Cited
Crayola. “Colorful Moments in Time.” Crayola History Timeline, Crayola, 2016, https://www.crayola.com/-/media/Crayola/About-Us/History/CrayolaTimeline_2016. Accessed 18 September 2020.
Crayola. “Colors of the World Skin Tone Crayons, 24 Count.” Crayola Crayons, Crayola, May 28 2020, https://shop.crayola.com/color-and-draw/crayons/colors-of-the-world-skin-tone-crayons-24-count-5201080000.html. Accessed 25 November 2020.
Robin, Marci. “Crayola Teamed Up With a Former MAC Chemist to Expand Its Range of Skin-Tone Crayons.” Allure, Condé Nash, 21 May 2020, https://www.allure.com/story/crayola-skin-tone-crayons-extension. Accessed 25 November 2020.
Mahadevan, Tara C. “Crayola Announces New Skin Tone-Inspired Crayon Box to Promote Inclusivity.” Complex, 21 May 2020, https://www.complex.com/life/2020/05/crayola-announces-new-crayons-promote-inclusivity. Accessed 25 November 2020.
Rivera, Josh, and USA Today. “Crayola launches ‘Colors of the World’ skin tone crayons.” Chicago Sun Times, 22 May 2020, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/5/22/21268090/crayola-colors-of-the-world-skin-tone-crayons-diversity. Accessed 25 November 2020.
The Strong Museum of Play. “Crayola Crayons.” National Toy Hall of Fame, The Strong, https://www.toyhalloffame.org/toys/crayola-crayons. Accessed 11 September 2020.
Twitter. “Crayola Tweet.” Twitter, Twitter, 21 May 2020, We are excited to introduce our new line of crayons, Colors of the World, available now for pre-order, http://crayo.la/COTW! BoyWomanBoyBoyWomanWomanBoyWomanBoyWoman [Emojis] With the Colors of the World, we hope to cultivate a more inclusive world for children of. Accessed 30 November 2020.