Marsala is a Mar-Snooze

You would think with as much as I love red wine and Italian food, Pantone’s pick for the 2015 color of the year, Marsala, would be my latest and greatest obsession. Not the case, Pantone, not the case.
According to Leatrice Wiseman, Pantone Color Institute’s Executive Director, Marsala is a color that is “nurturing and fulfilling” and that it’s “a natural fit for the kitchen and dining room – making it ideal for tabletop, small appliances and linens throughout the home.”
While I understand Leatrice’s point here, I can’t really visualize this in practice. Really, Marsala-colored tabletop mixers and cloth napkins are going to be the next big thing? I feel like it is a stretch at best.
Refinery29 made a good point that Marsala stands out for its subtle pink, yet brownish hue, which makes for a beautiful color for makeup or clothing. While this may be true, I struggle to see how else the color will influence our world, no matter how Ms. Wiseman claims it will.
I do think the shade is nice, but that’s it – it’s just nice. I am all for minimalism and subtlety, but to me, Marsala is just not exciting or inspiring. What disappoints me most is the lack of richness of Marsala; I feel like we’re looking at Chili Pepper (2007’s color of the year) at 60%.
All in all, Marsala is a great color, but definitely limited in use in my eyes. However, my feet aren’t firmly planted on the hater side of the Marsala-colored fence – I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s used in the coming year.