Īmelia Perrin has criticized the trend of using such lighting when bisexual characters appear in television and music videos, arguing in Cosmopolitan that this visual image 'perpetuates bisexual stereotypes'. Pantone selected ' Ultra Violet' as the color of 2018 in a move the BBC says reflected the growing use of the scheme. And while The Daily Dot questioned whether 'the aesthetic or the cultural significance first', it too concluded that the idea 'has stuck'. Sasha Geffen wrote at that it had become 'solid in its meaning', while Nicky Idika of PopBuzz wrote that it has now 'become an established part of bisexual storytelling in media'. The trend gained traction in the LGBT community in 2017 particularly on social media sites Twitter, Reddit, and Pinterest.
The colors may be a direct reference to the bisexual pride flag. George Pierpoint of BBC News writes that some social media users claim bisexual lighting has been used as an 'empowering visual device' which counteracts perceived under-representation of bisexuality in the visual media. The bisexual pride flag, which uses pink, purple, and blue colors
