Package designers typically use color to entice consumers into buying whatever's inside. But several years ago the Australian government singled out a product they didn't want people to buy, namely, cigarettes. They then took the extraordinary step of hiring market research firm Gfk Bluemoon and asked them to find the world's ugliest color—so that they could then mandate this color be included on cigarette packaging.

The researchers polled over 1,000 smokers, showing them Pantone chip after Pantone chip, and here's the winner (or loser, depending on how you look at it):

Pantone 448C, "Opaque Couche"

That's Pantone 448C, "Opaque Couche," which rather resembles the aftermath of a bad meal followed by a tough bout in the bathroom.

With 448C mandatorily slapped onto cigarette packaging, sales in Australia did in fact drop. This has led the UK, France and Ireland to enact the same rule.

Enter a caption (optional)

I have to say it works, at least for me; I feel sick just looking at that color. Yeccchh.

Via The Evening Standard