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The color blue a red herring to viewers? Red herring as in something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue.

I'm not so sure the color blue is that significant, the color or the fact that it is blue. My take is it was a clever method for the discussion between an elementary school teacher and Don so that he can say his line to convey his little philosophical moment. Also, it created a sense of intimacy between them. Having Don use a child's question softens him in her eyes, endears him to her because he responds to the teacher as if a six year old's concern is important to him because it is to her.
Then at home Don just as smoothly when Bobby, his own son, asks why doesn't he ask how he's doing, he responds shortly, "I do. (but doesn't) and explains that Sally's answer is quicker....Go figure; Mr. Softie not so much with his child.
I would love to read discussion about this and other's take on the color blue.

Posted by fanofmad
October 21, 2009 6:40pm

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By fanofmad on October 21, 2009 6:58 PM

I'm sorry, I know there has been significant discussion about the color blue (stop banging heads).
I mean discussion about the factors mentioned in my thread post.

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By Betty Crocker on October 21, 2009 8:26 PM

I hadn't thought about the "red herring" factor, but I hope not. I'm no literary scholar, but I generally can't stand the use of a red herring, except in fun mystery type stories. It's a way overused literary device and it can be annoying.

But I'll think about it while I watch the episode for the zillionth time, lol.

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By Jolie10 on October 21, 2009 11:04 PM

I wasn't sure where Don conjured up his "only 45% of the population sees the same blue...." or something to that effect. All I can say, just from my own personal experience, that people often don't agree on what color they're seeing. I recently painted a rental of mine "Natural Beige". OK, so it had a strong peach tone going on, but several people commented it looked "pink" (oh, and would a "guy" want to live there??). AAAHHH! No! It wasn't "pink"....doesn't everyone know what "pink" is?? Evidently not, and it's not really something you can change someone's mind about. They see what they see. So, in a sense, Don was right. People will see things differently.
Also, I have found blue to be infinitely hard to match because there seem to be more shades of blue than any other color. Am I crazy?

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By fanofmad on October 22, 2009 12:58 AM

Jolie10, that's a good point about where did Don come up with the 45%---and that was actually what clued me into thinking about what I wrote in my original post for this thread---that it isn't the material of the conversation but that Don has a way of knowing how to seduce and how to make people comfortable. In this case, I felt Don was using his technique to seduce.
Is it true that there is a blue that 45% of people see the same? I looked around the internet and could not find reference to it, so perhaps it's in advertisement an acceptable goal is to reach nearly 1/2 the population whatever the project is?
I have never had a situation in which two people agree on a color as being the same. So, I don't think you're crazy, Jolie10.
So, back to my reason for thinking it was just smooth talking what the lady wants to hear---he's interested in what she is and he's sensitive.