yellowwashing

Yellowwashing is a term used to describe the practice of portraying an organization, product, or political actor in a superficially positive light through color-themed branding or messaging—often using yellow—that masks controversial actions, failures, or ethical concerns. The term echoes whitewashing and greenwashing, with yellow signifying optimism, caution, or cheerfulness and serving to distract from critical scrutiny.

In corporate and political discourse, yellowwashing can involve marketing campaigns that emphasize cheerful imagery, charitable donations, or consumer-friendly slogans while diminishing or avoiding attention to labor abuses, environmental harms, censorship, or human-rights violations. It may accompany attempts to reframe controversies as issues of public sentiment, safety, or community happiness.

Critics argue that yellowwashing can mislead audiences by creating a veneer of benevolence without substantive reform. It can exploit the symbolic meaning of the color yellow in branding or national/iconic contexts to inoculate viewers against critical reporting, shareholder concerns, or watchdog findings. As with related concepts, the evaluation of yellowwashing rests on evidence of actual changes in policy, transparency, labor conditions, or accountability rather than promotional messaging alone.

See also: Greenwashing, Whitewashing, Yellow journalism, Pinkwashing.