Here's the original quote: "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche
If ever there was an ominous philosophical warning, this would be it.
Sohat, our local mineral water brand, oddly thought that misquoting it actually makes it more palatable (not sure if this is a pun or not!). "When we stare into the colourful abyss, the colourful abyss stares back" - this reminds me of the iconic smile of Jack Nicholson in The Shining (deranged, demented, and you know he is out for the kill) - especially the "here's Johnny" scene, where it is still a "smile" but a threatening one to put it mildly. To be honest, it spooks me about who comes up, then who approves such things as they make me uncomfortable (especially that the quasi-totality of the masses have no clue this is a misquoted Nietzsche saying).
As I said, this could easily be one of the most disturbing moralistic quotes in the history of moral lessons (and trust me, I took the ethics course at university and I have seen some pretty spooky ones!). I am not sure diluting it with the word "colourful" makes it work.