A short detour -
Their sin ... they liked the color of the placebos better and took them first.
Regarding drug commerce:
Colour is, apparently, an important factor in the industry. About 35yrs ago, I read that colour sells drugs. Some drug colours were found to have special appeal to female clinicians, others to male clinicians. Drug advertisement brochures circulated to them were designed to take account of this.
Regarding actual clinical effects of drug colour:
"...the available evidence suggests that green and blue may have more sedative effects and red and orange may have more stimulant effects. Research contributing to a better understanding of the effect of coloured medication is certainly warranted. "
- BMJ [British Medical Journal] 1996;313:1624-1626 (21 December)
The above corresponds to the effect of colours in the work place:
In a study done in December of 1999, Nancy J. Stone and Anthony J. English tested the affects of color in the work place and it's correlation to performance. What they found was "a red office is more stimulation and may cause vigor, anger or tension" However it was found to increase performance. It was found that blue in an office may "cause greater depression, as well as sadness, fatigue or relaxation" and that "workers in white offices complained of more head aches and instances of nausea" (muohio.edu).
http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/hohonu/writing.php?id=73
