Can you imagine a more "environmentally challenged" logo? A beautiful blue-green earth being covered in red paint that looks like blood! And to top it off their slogan is "Cover the Earth". Unbelievable! Earth to marketing department...your logo was designed by Dick Cheney.
I have no idea what the environmental record of this company is. Maybe it's good, but that is beside the point. It seems that they have totally missed the boat on creating a "green" image, which, if you are a company trying to sell a product, is very important.
Addenum: I just went to the company website and this is what it said 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."
Whether or not it was created in the 1800s and is "historical", this logo has got to go. It's a public relations disaster! I mean, if slackers like me are blogging about it, you have a problem.
Also, I have been looking around the internet and many other bloggers have commented on the company's logo. In the comments section of many of these posts, there are "people", who are obviously Sherwin-Williams employess, trying to attack the bloggers! For example one "person" writes:
"I’m not sure who you are or what this website is all about, I simply stumbled upon while looking for a SW logo to print off. I think you should know that Sherwin-Williams was the first major paint company to stop making lead paint. They did decades before the federal government passed legislation that made it illegal . Sherwin-Williams is also the leading innovator in making low voc and “green” paints. The logo is actually the fourth most recognizable logo in the world and that is why is not dropped. People like the logo and have for years, and I do not see that changing in the near future."
Another:
"Does focusing on such a trivial and superficial aspect of a company’s corporate policies seem a wise investment of time? The symbol and the company are over one hundred years old. They have a right to acknowledge that history. Perhaps your time would better be spent focusing on real issues like the actual environmental policies of the company or the government than it it is railing about such a cosmetic issue."
It's crazy to think that this company pays people to go around and write comments in blogs in order to change public opinion! Guys, get with the times and change your logo or else suffer the cold wrath of the market.
1 comment:
Don't judge a book by it's cover. Sherwin is one of the most green companies in America today. They were first to make green paint that has zero voc's. There logo was created in the 1890's and implies a meaning of spreading a good product to all over the word. Sherwin is one of the oldest and strongest American companies left. Go inside a store and talk to an employee, they are a proud company and know their business better than any of their competitors which is probably why they have lasted so long. Sherwin is very green, they took lead out of their paint in the fifties when it wasn't outlawed till 1978. Sherwin is a great company, look deeper than a few blogs, go into their stores, talk to them, you may be surprised.
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