# "COVER the EARTH"?!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426 "2003-08-11T17:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/21 "2003-08-11T19:36:03Z")
In the true SDMB spirit of looking up factual answers to questions meant rhetorically, if at all: [The Sherwin-Williams Paint Company, founded in 1866 in Cleveland, has been using the “Cover the Earth” logo in various forms since 1905](http://www.ohiosci.org/OHIOSCIENCE200APPENDIX.htm). It being a regional brand until fairly recently, though, it may well be that non-Midwesterners are not used to seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/22 "2003-08-11T20:29:33Z")
Jeez… time for a new logo anyone? I’m game. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/23 "2003-08-11T20:44:29Z")
Sherwin-Williams Paint “Paint all the things that only need paint on earth, which isn’t too much so don’t freak out” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/24 "2003-08-11T20:49:58Z")
Of course they want to cover the world in paint. Their shitty wallpaper peels off the wall after three weeks. Mrs. Bubbadog wanted to nuke our local SW store after wasting three more days stripping the crappy wall paper from the wall. The SW rep’s response," Yeah, we’ve had a lot of trouble with that kind of wallpaper lately." At that point Bubbadog had to constrain the rampant Mrs. from covering the SW store in RED. Since then, we don’t buy \*\* anything \*\* from them. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/25 "2003-08-11T20:50:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lno \* > \*\*No, no, Chevrolets are _like_ a rock. Or so James Coburn has told me. \*\* He must have clicked on the option that disables similies. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/26 "2003-08-12T00:06:20Z")
Oh, just so you know, Colonel Sanders’ head isn’t _really_ that big, and isn’t (well, wasn’t while he was still alive anyway) detached from his body. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/27 "2003-08-12T00:53:20Z")
I for one had the exact same reaction when I saw the ad a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/28 "2003-08-12T01:17:35Z")
I saw it for the first time a couple of months ago, and it kinda creeped me out. But then I forgot about it until just now. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/29 "2003-08-12T01:56:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by photopat \* > \*\*Oh, just so you know, Colonel Sanders’ head isn’t _really_ that big, and isn’t (well, wasn’t while he was still alive anyway) detached from his body. 😉 \*\* Y’know, I used to work at KFC ('twas a looong time ago; my first job), and it always used to bug me a little that you couldn’t go anywhere in that store without a portrait of that dead Colonel staring at you. From the damn _ketchup_ packets, even, and as a subtle watermark on the napkins. Creepy as all hell. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/30 "2003-08-12T05:40:46Z")
I’ve known about the Sherwin-Williams logo for at least three decades (it’s been sold here in the Northwest probably longer than that) and it’s always bothered my ecological sensibilities. Sure, cover the planet in chemical-laden, probably nonbiodegradable gunk. Kill all the animals, plants and people and all that so the company can make a buck. That makes a lot of sense. But hey, they’ve been around a lot longer than I have and they’ve been pretty lax on this Paint the World thing. I look around and other than buildings and vehicles, things seem pleasantly and safely non-painted. The trees are naturally green and the fishies are swimming aroung in non-pigmented water so I guess I don’t have to worry about much if they’ve only gotten as far as they have in the last 100 years or so. But just in case, where can I get about a million gallons of ecologically sound paint remover in short order? ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/31 "2003-08-12T05:49:40Z")
CLEVELAND— Sherwin-Williams officials announced Monday that the company is nearing the midpoint of its 112-year project to cover the Earth in a coat of bright red paint. “We’re proud to announce that the entire Northern Hemisphere should be slathered 10 feet deep in candy-apple red Latex Semi-Gloss by year’s end,” Sherwin-Williams CEO Christopher Connor said. “And we are fully confident that the rest of the globe can be completed well before the giant space bucket runs out of paint.” For the more difficult second-phase painting of the Earth’s underside, workmen equipped with spray hoses will be suspended by cables from the equator. From a July 2002 [Onion](http://www.onion.com), though I couldn’t find the original article. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/32 "2003-08-12T10:25:49Z")
From a purely aesthetic POV, it is a bad logo and slogan; really really bad. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/33 "2003-08-12T10:44:52Z")
It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t like to paint it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/34 "2003-08-12T12:07:42Z")
On a par with a bakery saying “Choke to death on our lovely cakes” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/35 "2003-08-12T12:08:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > **dead Colonel** Isn’t _Dead Colonels_ that movie where people dress up like Kentucky Colonels and rob KFCs of their 17 herbs and spices? I think it got a bad rap because they were all in whiteface. ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/36 "2003-08-12T15:19:16Z")
They seem to have a knack for weird / stupid ads. A while ago around here they were running a TV ad that blared some chick singing “Ask how, ask now, ask Sherwin-Williams” about a zillion times per ad. And every damn time she ran the “ask” and “how” together so it sounded like “Ask Cow, ask now…” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/37 "2003-08-12T16:39:55Z")
I’ve seen the Sherwin-Williams logo for years in Iowa. It actually bothers me less than the one for Dutch Boy paint, showing a kid in overalls and wooden shoes painting a wall. Child labor and stereotypes, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/38 "2003-08-12T17:37:16Z")
And how about the ecological damage wrought by that little girl on the Morton Salt carton? C’mon kid, that’s what the Romans did when they destroyed a city. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/39 "2003-08-12T17:40:15Z")
And the kiddy porn shot in the Coppertone suntan lotion ads - they wouldn’t be able to show a little girls’ nekkid butt if that logo wasn’t grandfathered somehow. Come to think of it, that one actually does bother me. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426/40 "2003-08-12T18:16:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > \*\*And the kiddy porn shot in the Coppertone suntan lotion ads - they wouldn’t be able to show a little girls’ nekkid butt if that logo wasn’t grandfathered somehow. Come to think of it, that one actually does bother me. \*\* They still run those? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cover-the-earth/194426.md?page=3)