"SWP - Cover the Earth"

[Astarte]

Ok, so, I noticed this several years ago, and have been meaning to bring it up on this forum for a while now, but have always forgotten about it until now.

I noticed, probably around 2008 for the first time, that the paint retailer "Sherwin Williams Paint" has this logo:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3014/2382730071_1dd5b483d5_z.jpg

Is it just me, or does anyone else think it is strange that the paint can should have A. the the initials "SWP" on it while it is B. pouring RED paint onto a C. globe representing the permanent/international/world revolution. If I had to guess, I would say that no, Sherwin-Williams is not at all associated with either the American or British SWP, but possibly the person who came up with the logo may have had SWP or at least Trotskyist sympathies. Any thoughts on this?

[sixdollarchampagne]

I attended the convention of the (US) SWP in an NYC hotel in the late sixties, and some of the younger party members were wearing Sherwin Williams (painter) hats during the convention. I hadn't thought of that in years, so I appreciate Astarte's post. I doubt that the advertising guy/woman who came up with the artwork in the picture had ever heard of the (US) SWP – just a happy coincidence.

[Sam_b]

possibly the person who came up with the logo may have had SWP or at least Trotskyist sympathies. Any thoughts on this?

Yeah, my thoughts are to focus on real politics rather than conspiracy theories

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I have read on Louis Proyect's Marxmail (or something similar) that the Sherwin-Williams logo was used as the unofficial emblem of the US SWP in the 50s/60s.The president and board of directors of the company found out that a commie group was using their symbol and surprisingly they got a kick out of it. Bad publicity is better than no publicity, I guess.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QtkO3L6dATw/UHZJ-K_6DtI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/0KFg8EXTikw/s1600/s.jpg

[Sam_b]

It's also not a 'happy coincidence' considering the US SWP are insane and the UK SWP are a bunch of rape apologist scum

[Lenina Rosenweg]

It's also not a 'happy coincidence' considering the US SWP are insane and the UK SWP are a bunch of rape apologist scum

Very true but when the US SWP was at its height-from 1934 when they were the Communist League, though the 1960s, they were one of the most important revolutionary organisations in US history.They degenerated and Jack Barnes finished them off in the 1980s.

[Sam_b]

Oh of course I agree, even superficially considering the amount of quasi-influencial organisations that can trace their history back to the SWP, but I was more indicating that such a theory is a bit rich especially considering the movement of capital developing in the last few decades.

[Le Socialiste]

I don't care what their intent was (but seeing as they've had that logo for several decades - possibly preceding the American and British SWP - I doubt it has anything to do with either party). Either way, I like it. I'm a little tempted to set it as my avatar. ;)

[Aurora]

It's also not a 'happy coincidence' considering the US SWP are insane and the UK SWP are a bunch of rape apologist scum
The US SWP aren't insane they just have shitty politics and a shitty leadership and the UK SWP aren't a bunch of rape apologist scum i would have thought you would be more careful in writing off an entire group which you were a part of until very recently and in which half the membership disagrees with the fuckups of the leadership and the disastrous education of the members who follow that leadership.

[Astarte]

Yeah, my thoughts are to focus on real politics rather than conspiracy theories
Dude, are you kidding me? You are going to jump on me for suggesting that an ad-man may have had Trot sympathies when designing a logo that could have been easily able to be slipped past a board of execs that never even heard of the crappy sect? That really isn't much of a "conspiracy theory" rather than speculation as to how so much Trot symbology could possibly be jammed into one stupid logo by accident. Give me a fucking break - you make it sound like I said Sherwin Williams is secretly run by a cabal of Trotskyites or some shite...

[Lenina Rosenweg]

There's actually a Yahoo group made up of former SWP members. Some of the history is fascinating.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/swp_usa/?yguid=126654299

They may be able to shed some light on this.

[Astarte]

There's actually a Yahoo group made up of former SWP members. Some of the history is fascinating.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/swp_usa/?yguid=126654299

They may be able to shed some light on this.

The SWP of the USA actually was fairly influential for a long time - James P. Cannon was the founder and some of their members were actually even guards at Trotsky's compound in Mexico. Their publishing house, Pathfinder Press was largely the only vehicle for the printed dissemination of Trotskyist literature before the internet and MIA. In terms of a non-Stalinist Marxist-Leninist party current during the Cold War in the USA, the SWP in the USA was a, if not the major player, thus why I do not believe it would have been so hard for a young, radicalized ad-man or ad-woman to have had SWP sympathies at the time the logo was created ... some conspiracy theory.

[homegrown terror]

interestingly enough, i've heard of neo-fashes using their logo as well, the SWP standing for "supreme white power" to them.

[sixdollarchampagne]

There is no connection between the old Sherwin-Williams logo "Cover the earth" and the SWP's name. Thanks to Google, I found the story:

Sherwin-Williams "started with a Chameleon logo, which seems appropriate for a paint company. But in the 1890s, their head of marketing, George W. Ford, sketched up a new logo ... called 'Cover the Earth'. The logo started appearing on company materials occasionally in 1893, and in 1905, the logo officially replaced the chameleon logo."

James Cannon's SWP, in the US, assumed its present name in 1938.

Source: http://blog.bonforte.com/2009/07/06/wtf-cover-the-earth-the-least-environmentally-friendly-logo-ever/

[Os Cangaceiros]

On a seperate but related note, there was some Hoxhaist group on this website called the APL (American Party of Labor) a while back, and the online publication they do is called the Red Phoenix. Whenever I go into my hometown and drive by the port, there are a bunch of shipping containers with this logo on them and it makes me think of that:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/APL_Logo.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_President_Lines

[Jimmie Higgins]

Ha ha. Yeah I've seen the logo and I always thought it was funny. If I were in the SWP I definitely would have invested in some paint company schwag to wear for giggles.

I've always thought this was suspect too:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hKKtiM3agXo/Sw_6cBejbUI/AAAAAAAACDE/rz9x4DY9eCk/s1600/macys_logo.png:laugh:

[homegrown terror]

Ha ha. Yeah I've seen the logo and I always thought it was funny. If I were in the SWP I definitely would have invested in some paint company schwag to wear for giggles.

I've always thought this was suspect too:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hKKtiM3agXo/Sw_6cBejbUI/AAAAAAAACDE/rz9x4DY9eCk/s1600/macys_logo.png:laugh:

pardon the slapped-together image editing...

[Rugged Collectivist]

Yeah, my thoughts are to focus on real politics rather than conspiracy theories

Yes, let's focus on real politics in the "non political" sub forum.