The pink slip is a popular term all over the world. But did you know? A pink slip can mean different things, depending on which country you are in.

In Australia, a pink slip checklist is something that an inspector hands to a vehicle owner. When a pink slip is issued in Australia, this means that the vehicle is roadworthy. In the Philippines, a pink slip is a medical document handed to people. It shows whether someone has sexually transmitted diseases or not. In the United States, a pink slip is an employment document. It is issued to people who had been fired.

An Aesthetic History
Let’s face it: the color pink is popular. Elvis Presley had a pink Cadillac, Barbie’s dresses are mostly pink, and Pink (the singer) is named after the said color. Without a doubt, the color pink has made a mark on pop culture.

In the West, pink became a fashionable color in the mid-1700s. Both male and female European aristocrats wore pink as a symbol of luxury and class. Around the middle of the 19th century, pink became a feminine color when males started to wear dark colors.

Pink also became a symbol of protest. Pink triangles, which were once used in concentration camps by the Nazis to identify homosexuals, became a symbol of gay movements in the 1970s. Thus, the color is now usually associated with the LGBTQIA+ community.

The way people perceive pink has changed over the past few decades though. A hundred and seventy years ago, pink was considered as feminine. Now, prominent male models on the runway wear pink. Despite that, one thing remains true about the color: it is versatile and vibrant.

Information Dissemination in Pink
Because of pink’s status in the society, using it as a way to deliver information is justified. After all, pink is such a noticeable color, and that is why the known origin of the pink slip, which is Ford’s assembly lines, used the color to terminate employees. Ford used to give white or pink paper to its employees. If a worker receives a white slip, then his or her services are still required. On the other hand, if a pink slip is received, that means the employee’s services are no longer needed.

The Oxford English Dictionary first recorded the term “pink slip” in 1915. After that, the term continued to be widely used in the United States. Some years past, and variations of the term’s meaning popped up in other countries.

Additionally, the color pink was chosen so that the document will stand out from others. So, the person it’s being handed to can easily notice it. Since these slips contain important medical, job-related, and legal information, using pink paper makes the delivery of information efficient.

Without a doubt, the pink slip’s history and value show that the pink slip is not just a simple piece of document. It is proof that aesthetics play a great role in information dissemination.