Farrow & Ball told to make its ‘Dead Salmon’ shade name more ‘vegan friendly’

Farrow & Ball paint names “Dead Salmon” and “Smoked Trout” have attracted the ire of animal rights charity Peta, who say these descriptors should be changed to be more “vegan friendly”

In a letter sent to the high-end home decoration brand, the organisation raised concerns over names that refer to the death or consumption of animals because they “normalise animal abuse” and “exploitation”.

The company is known for using eccentric names for its products, such as “Sulking Room Pink”, “Potted Shrimp” and “Bamboozle”. But Yvonne Taylor, the Vice President of corporate projects at Peta, told the company’s colour curator that even names like “Au Lait”, which is French for ‘with milk’, should be changed.

Taylor said in the letter: “Renaming animal product-monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers.”

“Dead Salmon could become Magic Mushroom, Au Lait could become Lait de Coco and Potted Shrimp – well, you’re the expert, but you get the idea!”

While Taylor praised the company for selling “cruelty-free” and mostly vegan paints, she asked for the naming of the paints to be “more inclusive”.

“We wanted to get in touch with a simple suggestion to make the range even more inclusive: update colour names that normalise exploiting animals to make them vegan-friendly, too,” Taylor said.

“Dead Salmon” is described in the brand’s colour directory as a “modern eggshell” colour inspired by “the cloth of everyday workwear originally made in the French city of Nîmes”.

The “Smoked Trout” is lighter than the latter, described as a “warm mushroom” shade that can read as a deep taupe or a dustier red, depending on the light.

Taylor pointed out that the killing of fish like salmon and trout in the UK required “painful methods such as bludgeoning” or having their gills cut “without stunning”.

Concluding the letter, she wrote: “We hope the Farrow & Ball range will soon be entirely vegan – with Soft Distemper and Casein Distemper also evolving to become animal product-free – but until then, renaming colours that normalise animal abuse is one way to remind others that animals are not food but sentient individuals and members of the delicate ecosystem we all share.”

Peta UK then wrote on X/Twitter: “Hey @FarrowandBall, we love that all your paints are cruelty-free and that most are vegan. How about updating colour names that normalise exploiting animals to make them vegan-friendly, too?”

“Farrow and Ball are known for their creative paint names and we’re just suggesting some fun alternatives which don’t normalise animal abuse. Which one is your favourite?” they said, before suggesting their alternative names like “Magic Mushroom” and “Potted Petunia”.

Founded by John Farrow and Richard Ball in 1946, Farrow & Ball has become well known for its recognisable colours and its more expensive prices, with its “Dead Salmon” shade costing £85 for 2.5 litres and £137 for five litres.

The Farrow & Ball letter is among a long list of public stunts performed by Peta in recent months.

On 7 August, protesters affiliated with the organisation interrupted Pope Francis’s weekly general audience to call for an end to bullfighting. The activists ran into the room in the Vatican wearing t-shirts reading “Stop blessing corridas” and raised banners reading “Bullfighting is a sin” before they were escorted out by Swiss Guards.

PETA says in its mission statement that animals deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration, regardless of whether they are useful to humans. It believes that animals are capable of suffering and have an interest in leading their own lives.

Farrow & Ball had not yet responded to Peta’s letter at the time of writing.