Saturday, January 15, 2011

SHERMAN WILLIAMS

Dear Mr. Williams,

I am utterly disgusted with your choice of logo. In case you are unaware, let me remind you that it depicts a tipped over paint can dumping what can only be described as ox blood red over our world and the words "cover the earth" below. I find this logo disturbing on a variety of levels. Who is responsible for this? I painted my entire house in your "harmony" line as i was lead to believe that you were a company of environmental integrity. I am an active member of Greenpeace, sierra club, PETA, Stella of Omaha organization for natural awareness, just to name a few. IN my town,my fellow city occupants have banned your products as your message is crystal clear; you do not give an iota of thought to the health of the world around us. Unless this includes slapping a label marked "green" or "eco friendly" on a paint can aka TOXIC poisoning. Your charade is up. I will starting a nation wide campaign unless you change your logo OR pull your eco line.

Regards,

Joam J. Jeremy.



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Hi Joam,

Thank you for contacting the Sherwin-Williams website.

And thank you for your e-mail regarding our "Cover the Earth" logo and its
potential for conveying an environmentally insensitive image. We hope that by providing some background on the development of the logo and on our current commitment to environmentally friendly initiatives you will see that we are committed to environmental responsibility.

The design first appeared in 1893 when we wanted to illustrate how
Sherwin-Williams quality paint could become large enough to make an impact on the entire world. The design has been utilized from that time on. It 1895 it was officially adopted as the Sherwin-Williams trademark. In 1906, the design and its wording were registered with the United Sates Patent Office. In the 1930's it was honored as being one of the ten most recognized trademarks in the world and it continues to have high worldwide recognition today. 140 years later, Sherwin-Williams continues to strive to provide beautiful and durable coatings that help people around the world maintain their buildings with our products.

Understanding your concern for the environment, I'd like to inform you of some of the initiatives our company is involved with in this area. For some time now we have been devoting significant resources to develop environmentally friendly coatings which exhibit excellent product attributes while reducing the potential for air emissions.
Our Harmony, Duration Home, and ProGreen products all carry the GreenSure logo.

Since the 1970's we have increased our activity to reduce all solid and
liquid emissions from our plants and facilities. We utilize a distribution network to maximize our efficiency in transporting goods to our stores. We also conduct extensive environmental audits to identify any potential issues when we acquire other companies. We have an environmental services department that actively identifies and corrects any environmental problems the company may find.

We believe our proactive actions and our track record will indicate that we are concerned about the environment and that we responsibly back this concern with our assets and our people. We appreciate your concern and thank you for taking the time to review our history and current practices.

Thanks again for writing to us.

Regards,
Eric
Sherwin-Williams Online Support