The origin Story: Finding a Voice in a Crowded Candy Aisle
Skittles were first introduced commercially in 1974 by a British company before being brought to North America by Mars, Incorporated in 1979. For the first decade, their marketing was fairly standard, focusing simply on the fruit flavors and the colorful bite-sized shape. However, to truly stand out against chocolate giants like M&M's and Snickers, Skittles needed a distinct personality.
In 1994, the advertising agency D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) was tasked with creating a unifying campaign. They focused on the product's most obvious visual trait—its array of bright, varied colors—and combined it with the core consumer action. The result was a brilliantly simple, yet physically impossible directive: "Taste the Rainbow."
Meaning: The Genius of Synesthesia
The brilliance of "Taste the Rainbow" lies in its use of synesthesia—the blending of different senses. You can see a rainbow, but you cannot taste one. By commanding the consumer to do something impossible, the slogan instantly separated Skittles from reality and positioned the brand in a world of pure imagination and absurdity.
This phrase wasn't just a tagline; it was a creative license. Because the core message was inherently surreal, it gave future advertising agencies the freedom to create increasingly bizarre, weird, and funny commercials. It signaled to consumers, particularly teenagers and young adults, that Skittles wasn't a serious, traditional candy brand; it was a brand that didn't take itself seriously at all.
Impact & Legacy: A Masterclass in Absurdist Marketing
Over 30 years later, "Taste the Rainbow" remains one of the longest-running advertising campaigns in history. While the slogan has stayed exactly the same, the commercials have evolved into masterclasses of absurdist humor—featuring everything from people with Skittlespox to men milking giraffes for candy.
This consistency has paid off massively. Long before the era of internet memes and viral TikToks, Skittles was already speaking the language of internet culture: weird, unexpected, and slightly unhinged. "Taste the Rainbow" proves that a slogan doesn't always have to explain what a product does; sometimes, it just needs to establish the bizarre world where the product lives.