Despite how ridiculous this sounds it is actually very strategic. The industry has appointed Pantone as a sort of random number generator that will pick a color for next year. The only requirement for this color is that it is different from this year’s color. Pantone is the coordinating mechanism by which all of the manufacturers start making products in this color to manufacture a trend, and messaging through various media that last year’s color is “over” and you should be ashamed to be seen in it.