Image of five colorful sneakers
Shutterstock.com (middle, bottom sneakers); Nike (top left, top and bottom right sneakers); Peter White/Getty Images (bottom left sneaker)
Short Read,

Why Are Your Sneakers So Bright?

The secret science behind the eye-popping colors on our shoes

By Mary Kate Frank
From the May 2023 Issue
Complexity Factors
  • Purpose
    This article explores color psychology and how companies use it to help create and sell sneakers and other products.
  • Structure
    The text is informational.
  • Language Conventionality and Clarity
    Vocabulary: some challenging vocabulary (e.g., dominance, extracting, signifies, strategically) Conventionality: The language is mostly conventional.
Lexile: 980L
Featured Skill: Constructed Response,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.5, W.2, SL.1, L.4, L.5, L.6
  • Grade 6
    RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, RI.6.4, RI.6.5, W.6.2, L.6.4, L.6.5, L.6.6
  • Grade 7
    RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, RI.7.4, W.7.2, L.7.4, L.7.5, L.7.6
  • Grade 8
    RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.4, RI.8.5, W.8.2, L.8.4, L.8.5, L.8.6
TEKS Standards
  • Grades 6, 7, 8
    1d, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g, 5h, 5i, 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 6h, 6i, 8d, 8f, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e, 9f, 11b, 11c

Presentation View
See Student View

Want to hear this story read aloud? Click here!

Want to hear this story read aloud? Click here!

Shutterstock.com

Lime green so blazingly bright it gives you a jolt. The bold blue of a first-place ribbon. The intense pink of a sunset after a storm. These are just a few of the eye-popping colors you’ll find on some of today’s most popular sneakers. You might even be sporting one (or more) of these hues on your feet right now.

Have you ever wondered why bright, bold sneakers are so popular? After all, millions of colors exist in our world. What is it that makes some colors sell better than others? For shoe companies, it’s a $73 billion question. That’s how much money the global sneaker market raked in last year.

No wonder Nike, Adidas, Puma, and other top brands employ teams of experts to choose just the right shades. Their job is to find colors that appeal to both our sense of style and our emotions. To do that, they use modern technology—as well as ideas about color that stretch back centuries.

Color Stories

Throughout history, cultures have assigned meanings to colors. In ancient Rome and Greece, deep purple meant wealth and power. Purple cloth was expensive and rare, so it was worn mostly by emperors and other rich rulers. Creating the hue was a long, stinky process that involved extracting mucus from sea snails. (About 250,000 snails were needed to make just one ounce of purple dye!)

The meaning of a color can also vary from one culture to another. Orange signifies royalty in the Netherlands because the country’s royals come from an old family called the House of Orange. In Thailand and other places where many people practice the Buddhist religion, orange is linked to purity; Buddhist monks are known for their vibrant orange robes. And in many countries, orange is associated with caution because orange, being so visible, is used for traffic signs.

Red, Blue, and You

Boumen Japet/Alamy Stock Photo

Today the question of how color influences behavior and mood is the focus of a field called color psychology. Color psychology has revealed, for instance, that you might want to wear red the next time you challenge a friend to a game of hoops. 

“Research shows that sports teams wearing red are more likely to win,” says color psychologist Domicele Jonauskaite, from the University of Vienna in Austria. 

Exactly why  this is true is unclear. Red, the color of blood, has long been linked to dominance. It could be that athletes feel more powerful wearing crimson or that their opponents see them as a bigger threat, Jonauskaite says. 

If red fires us up, blue—the color of the sea and the sky—tends to chill us out. In one study, office workers exposed to bluish light reported lower levels of stress. They also slept better at night. Other research has shown that exposure to blue lighting can help people calm down faster after an upsetting event.

The Color of Money

xMarshall/Alamy Stock Photo

All this color knowledge adds up to a lot of green (money, that is) for businesses. Companies frequently use color psychology to sell us things. Ever notice that fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s use red and yellow in their logos? That’s because the color combo is thought to rev up our appetites. (This is called the “ketchup and mustard theory.”) Personal hygiene products—from soap to mouthwash—are often dyed shades associated with nature, like green or blue, to signal freshness.

How does all this play out when it comes to our kicks? 

Sneaker companies use color strategically to create feelings. One of Nike’s most famous colors, the neon-green “Volt,” is meant to evoke speed; green lights mean “go,” after all. Designers landed on the color after learning that our eyes are most sensitive to yellow-green hues. 

“The power of color is immeasurable,” says Karie Conner of Nike. She points out that many athletes associate Volt with speed and gold with winning. (The fact that Volt is impossible to miss on sports tracks and TV screens has no doubt contributed to the color’s success.) Plus, a well-placed burst of color can spotlight a sneaker’s logo or a cool new feature like extra-cushy soles. 

Of course, a splatter of hot pink or banana-peel yellow on our feet can also put some pep in our steps as we go about our day. And isn’t that what we want from our sneakers?

Short Write: According to the article, what is the power of color? 

Directions: In your own document, answer the question above in a well-organized paragraph. Be sure to use at least two pieces of text evidence to support your answer.

This article was originally published in the May 2023 issue.

Audio ()
Activities (5)
Core Skills Workout
  • The Core Skills Workout is a series of skill-based activities that will help your students "bulk up" in the comprehension skills they need most to become strong, analytical readers. The Core Skills Workout comes with every issue and will support your reading program no matter what your scope and sequence.
Reference
Skill-Building Activities
Skills Activities
Writing Support
Quizzes (1)
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (5)
Core Skills Workout
  • The Core Skills Workout is a series of skill-based activities that will help your students "bulk up" in the comprehension skills they need most to become strong, analytical readers. The Core Skills Workout comes with every issue and will support your reading program no matter what your scope and sequence.
Reference
Skill-Building Activities
Skills Activities
Writing Support
Quizzes (1)
Answer Key (1)
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Close Reading, Critical Thinking, Skill Building

Download the Lesson Plan

1. PREPARING TO READ

Project the Words and Definitions handout and preview the vocabulary.

2. READING AND DISCUSSING 

Read the article as a class. Alternatively, you can play the audio version while students follow along in their printed issues.

3. DOING THE ACTIVITY 

Have students work in small groups to complete the activity at the end of the article. They will write a claim, find a piece of text evidence, and explain why that evidence supports their claim.

4. WRITING 

  • To go deeper, use the Short Write Kit. First, project the How to Answer a Constructed-Response Question handout and review it as a class. Then have students work on their own or in groups to complete the self-guided writing activity Constructing a Response.
  • Have students use their completed activities to craft their own constructed responses.
Text-to-Speech