When I was twenty-three years old. I purchased my second KitchenAid mixer, a black one. I gave the white one to my mother. The color scheme in my kitchen was black and white. In fact my apartment and later my first town house was black and white. But then one day I was walking through Bloomingdale's and it caught my eye. The sexiest stand mixer I had ever seen! A Cobalt Blue KitchenAid 450 Watts Stand Mixer. In that moment, I knew color had finally entered my world.
In October 2001, I purchased the stand mixer and gave my old black one; to a non-deserving friend. I began building a new color scheme in my kitchen, and cobalt blue was addictive. In November I purchased the blender and the toaster. For Christmas, I asked my boyfriend to purchase the food processor.
There were kitchen stores in almost every mall, and I could easily find KitchenAid gadgets in cobalt blue. Slotted spoons, can openers and melon baller . . . My collection was quickly becoming an obsession. I enjoyed color so much, soon I replaced the white sofa, with butter cream. I even painted my living room walls.
I was quickly becoming a mini B Smith on the home front and my favorite room was my kitchen. Soon friends were buying me cobalt blue items for my kitchen. Family members were stopping at outlet stores and sending everything from dish towels to mixing bowls.
KitchenAid (AKA Whirlpool) was making any and everything a girl could want or need for her kitchen. If you could dream it they made it in that sexy ass color . . . Cobalt Blue.
One day in 2004, I visited the KitchenAid website and the cobalt major appliances were discontinued. What sort of BS was this? I had spent the last three years fantasizing about a ultimate cobalt blue kitchen and now someone in KitchenAid's corporate office has decided to mess with me?
So gradually, I began to focus on stainless steel major appliances with cobalt blue counter top appliances as accents. I purchased the KitchenAid cobalt blue pots and pans in December 2004.
In April 2005, I relocated from Miami back to the DC area. A new kitchen was more than enough justification to purchase new cobalt blue gadgets. I noticed it was almost impossible to find gadgets on www.shopkitchenaid.com. I was in a panic. I wanted that egg slicer and chocolate curler. I just had to have the pie crust crimper and the icing knife. This was getting ugly. I got desperate. I turned to eBay.
How much would a normal person spend on a cobalt blue egg slicer? I had hit a new all time low when I won the auction for just over $26.00. Who spends $26.00 for an egg slicer? An cobalt blue KitchenAid addict spends that much and more.
By June 2005, KitchenAid recalled my coffee maker. I was shocked and horrified when they replaced my beautiful cobalt coffee maker with a black one. Whirlpool KitchenAid Corporation, had gone too far. I was livid and someone was going to hear me on this grievance!
I wrote the CEO of KitchenAid a letter expressing my concern for the vanishing cobalt products and to tell him how much I hated my black coffee maker. I was shocked when he had one of his assistants call me. She explained that cobalt blue was being discontinued. Whirlpool has decided to produce only three colors for the most part. Black, white and red were of no interest to me, I had already been down that road. I wanted a colorful kitchen and red was not my color! How dare a company create cobalt blue addicts and then just discontinue our color? There's many others like me, out there. I know you're out there because I see you bidding ridiculous amounts for coffee makers, Immersion blenders or a super rare pie crust crimper in cobalt.
I long for the days when companies appreciated loyal consumers. Whirlpool KitchenAid made a foolish mistake when they erased color choices and then started selling products to any and every retailer.
I still have a pretty impressive collection of cobalt blue KitchenAid, but I wish Whirlpool would consider bringing back color choices for those cobalt addicts like myself.
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