The actress of "The Crown", Claire Foy, in a recent public appearance refused a fan's request for an autograph. Reason? Blue ink pen.
The video was originally shared by photojournalist Michael Blank. She approached a fan who asked for an autograph, then withdrew her hand. "I don't sign autographs with a blue ink pen," she is heard telling the fan.
A few steps away, another fan offered the actress a black pencil, and she took it, signed her autograph, and handed it back. Many fans were surprised by this action of the famous actress, while comments poured in from all sides, along with the need to know why the artist did not sign an autograph in blue pen.
"They refuse to use blue because the autograph can be sold as a valuable memento over time," one person said. "Most celebrities and athletes don't sign autographs in blue pen anymore because you can scan and forge the signature on other things and sell them," another person added.
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"Could be a superstition," someone else guessed.
Those explanations don't hold up well for Christopher Naghibi, a banker and lawyer who disputes the idea that blue ink is easier to counterfeit. "The notion that blue ink can be copied more easily than black ink is not necessarily correct in the context of modern technology," Naghibi told Today.
He said that historically, blue ink in scanned or photocopied documents does not maintain the same contrast as black ink when copied. But with advances in scanning and printing technology, this distinction has become less important.
"As a lawyer, I can tell you that blue ink is often preferred for signing important documents because it helps distinguish an original signature from a black-and-white photocopy or a printed signature," he added.
"Both inks, blue and black, can be subject to counterfeiting and the security against counterfeiting depends mainly on the methods used for verification, the quality of the inks and the paper, rather than on the color of the ink itself," concluded the lawyer.
So Claire, next time don't turn down the blue pen!
Source: Today
