Five years after premiering in London as the friend of "The Honest Financier and Respectable Broker," the Financial Times unveiled its signature salmon-pink newsprint in 1893.
According to the Times official website, the newspaper started using pink to distinguish itself from other publications like the Financial News. Rivals like The Wall Street Journal utilize the more traditional color scheme, so the Times’ longstanding marketing tactic helps it stick out in a competitive field.
The newspaper prints in 24 cities, with five editions: the UK, Continental Europe, USA, Asia-Pacific and online. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, while price increases led to a slip in recent circulation, the FT boasts roughly 435,000 in daily circulation and more than 1.3 million in worldwide readership.
According to color expert and strategist Kate Smith, pink stimulates energy, encourages action and confidence, and can increase blood pressure, respiration, heartbeat and pulse rate.
In January 1993, the FT saluted the one-hundredth anniversary of the inaugural pink edition by printing on white paper.