floral pattern on mattesses

[trilobite]

Why do mattresses generally have a floral pattern printed on them? Except for the five minutes per week it takes to change the cover sheets, nobody ever sees it, let alone a guest. And why floral? Why not smiley faces or ,er, trilobites?
I suspect the answer lies in the mattress showroom, where intelligent consumers know that the mark of a good mattress is its sporting of mauve daisies. More to the point, is this serious marketing or just lazy it's-always-been-done-this-way marketing?

[Larry Mudd]

It's camouflage. For later on. 'nuff said.

[Reeder]

I worked in the mattress business for 20 years, and no one could ever give me a good answer. And some of the ticking (what the cover is called) is very expensive material. I think you are right it seems to attract people in the showrooms.

[lee]

It hasn't always been that way. Just 40 years ago or so mattresses and pillows were most often covered with blue and white stripped ticking.

[ski]

I can't imagine that it's for any purpose other than to make the matress look nice in the showroom.

[CnoteChris]

I'd seriously side with those that say it's for marketing. I mean, it's the most important time in the mattresses life where it's not being covered... it's been sold.

Furthermore, and I mean let's get serious here, what are you thinking when you get a mattress? Women.

Or, more importantly, you're thinking the same thing a woman is thinking, "Oooo, that's nice."

Some marketer, or salesman, years ago, included that design on their mattresses and sold so many of them their competitors decided to copy it.

[Mangetout]

Originally posted by Larry Mudd
It's camouflage. For later on. 'nuff said.

Better camouflage still would be to print maps on them.

[Mudshark]

My mattress has a plaid design. I never noticed anything about the flowers.