I thought I read an article about 20 years ago in which the author said that a great deal of industrial psychology went into the original design of Dunkin’ Donuts.
He suggested that the pink/lilac colors were chosen to be appealing and attract customers, but the longer one lingered/loitered inside the restaurant, the more they annoyed on an unconscious level and would cause people to leave after awhile. Also, the chairs were supposedly designed to produce a crimp in one’s back after, say, 25 minutes, thus speeding up rotation of customers. Other fascinating design elements were used, though I cannot remember them all.
Urban legend or truth?