Pantone isn’t tiptoeing around the fact that 2025 is shaping up to be an epic shit show. The color company recently revealed their Color of the Year for 2025, and let’s just say that Sad Beige would have been a better alternative. We get shit brown next year, y’all. They’re calling it “Mocha Mousse,” but we all know the truth. That’s poop.
The color reflects a broader trend toward neutrals that many people were hoping was going the way of the dodo bird, but alas. The color Pantone has chosen to encapsulate 2025 for color lovers everywhere is somewhere between a muddy sock and a jar of expired peanut butter. Pantone describes it as “a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.”
UH.
Honey. NO. That is not at ALL what any of us perceive when we behold the glory that is PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse. Just flock to the digital water cooler that is social media and see for yourself exactly how people feel about next year’s color choice. Are the feelings positive? Well, yes. But it’s because people are having a difficult time not peeing themselves laughing, not because Mocha Mousse inspires creativity.
Speaking personally, the only thing I was inspired to do was drink another coffee this morning so I could get that first deuce of the day over with.
Why is the internet having such a MOMENT with this year’s “special” color choice? Because it makes it look like even the dang rainbow is giving up on having a decent 2025. In case you missed it, Australia recently announced that their word of the year is "enshittification"—y’know, the slow decline of once-promising ideas, systems, or services—and if next year’s Pantone color doesn’t prove Australia’s spot on, I don’t know what does. Is Pantone trolling us? Maybe. Or perhaps they’re just out of ideas. I don’t think we’ve been through the best ROYGBIV options in the last decade. Even that yellow striped asphalt motif was a step up from this ish. The Sephora collab is sure to be a regurgitated Naked palette. And I need to take a shower after that sentence.
Whatever their reasoning behind this year’s color choice—and it certainly is a CHOICE—Mocha Mousse reflects a distinct lack of cheer being felt around the world. However, businesses that usually make bank by trying to create and sell products matching Pantone’s annual ode to color have the opportunity to do the funniest thing. Let’s hope they roll with it because if Pantone isn’t trolling us and is, in fact, predicting how 2025’s gonna feel? We’re gonna need a laugh.
To conclude, we’d like to offer Pantone our suggestions for 2026 (since the bar seems so low you need a shovel to find it): Office Cubicle Gray, DMV Brown, Gas Station Bathroom Puce, and our personal favorite, Pink Pony Club Purple—is it pink, or is it purple? The internet’ll love it.
What color ideas do you have for next year? Let’s hear ’em. They can’t be worse than what the professionals have already chosen.
