The Tiny Choicing, it’s contagious
By Karina | January 23, 2008
My environmental enthusiasm is contagious: a colleague left this on my chair at work:
a close-up of the annotation:
he’s totally right! should we tell Sherwin Williams that their logo, while charming, is not really the best environmental message?
Full disclosure: I painted my entire apartment with Sherwin Williams paint a few years ago – and I chose their low-odor/no-VOC Harmony paint, which is, actually, a pro-environmental choice. And while I was looking up the type of paint I used for this post, I came across their GreenSure Initiatives page, which includes some neat stuff, including
- We use sustainable raw materials, like soy and sunflower oil in our paints.
- We’ve reduced the amount of solvent in our formulations, so the vapors being omitted into the atmosphere are more environmentally friendly.
- New techniques in our manufacturing processes have helped produce less waste and we’ve implemented energy efficient methods in our plants.
- We’ve streamlined national distribution processes, helping to conserve fuel, energy and other natural resources.
- We’ve formulated many of our coatings to clean easily and to resist mildew and harmful bacteria improving the indoor and outdoor environments.
OK, I’m not sure about the last one being “green,” but the other four are smart business practices AND good green measures. Plus, they do have this to say about their logo:
Our historical logo is one of the most recognized company logos in existence. Created in the late 1800′s, the logo’s purpose was to represent the company’s desire to help beautify and protect the buildings of the world. It was a symbol of a young company’s enthusiasm, idealism and hope regarding its future and the possibility for achievement that hovered on the nation’s horizon. Over the years our “Cover the Earth” logo has become a figurative emblem signifying integrity and service
I guess that means they won’t want to change it?
What do you think? does the logo come off as anti-environment, or is it just quirky and enthusiastic?
Topics: Home | 7 Comments »
the logo concept is okay, the color of the paint is not. it looks like an advert for genocide. they would be smart to change the color of the paint to yellow or green.
green would be perfect!
yup, the second i saw it i was going to say that green would be the way to go. while they were likely going with the national colors, i bet they’d likely go with green in this day and age of the green washing of everything, especially if, as martha in mobile commented, that folks let them know that i kind of looks like a blood bath. i wonder if the b-movie “the blob” was inspired by this ad campaign. i’ll send sherwin williams a note right now.
to me the logo seems outdated, what’s worse is that it conflicts with the strides they’re making to be more eco-friendly in their production.
they should have a logo that complements their positive choices.
My opinion is that the Sherwin Williams name represents what they say their logo represents.
I think they could stop using the cover the earth logo, just use the wordmark because the name is really the recognizable factor.
If I saw the logo without the wordmark, I might not even be able to place it with the right paint company.
You know, I understand their intent . . . but every time I see that logo, it irks me — from an environmental standpoint. Perhaps if I didn’t see life through green-colored glasses now, it wouldn’t bother me in the least. Unless you have done your homework and realize they ARE concerned with the environment, the logo would be a turn-off.
I have the same reaction every time I see that logo! It really doesn’t seem to be communicating anything positive about the company. I agree with Jessi that the Sherwin Williams NAME is much more recognizable than the logo, and that they would gain a lot more than they lose by updating it.
I don’t think changing the color to green would do it. It still looks like you’re dumping an unwanted substance over the whole planet. It looks so thick! Like it would smother everything underneath it! I don’t think “enthusiasm,” “ideal,” “integrity,” or “service” when I see that logo – every time I see it (and there’s one near my friend’s house, so I see their logo pretty often) I think it looks outdated and unpleasant.
Thumbs up on their environmental initiatives (which I didn’t know anything about!), but thumbs down on that logo.