Red, White, and Green

This isn't a political rant, but an advertising rant: Why does the Democratic Party keep changing the flag colors?

The old red, white and blue got a makeover several Democratic conventions ago for TV. The flag behind the podium was turquoise and salmon. It looked really pastel and horrible on video, where NTSC smeared it all over the screen.

Here's this year's logo for the Democratic National Convention Committee:

It looks off color again, so let's look at it in Photoshop. Click the pic to enlarge.


The darker or true blue should be RGB or Red Green Blue value 0 0 255. Here it is 0 144 214. This means that green has been added to the blue.


The lighter blue is still greened out towards gray. The RGB value is 1 74 142.


Same story for the red. It should read 255 0 0. It is 238 48 34. Again green has been added.


More green on the lighter red. RGB value is 248 163 134.

I don't understand what message this is supposed to be sending. They're trying to co-op the power of the red white and blue American flag, but at the same time change it to make it hip. This sends a message to me that says, "We're American, but cooler than those other Americans."

From an advertising point of view, this is a really elitist message. Stick to the true colors if you want the benefits of the image. This goes double for the upside-down flags.