Behr S350-1 paint is an off-white that appears to have a greenish or grayish tint depending on the light. It’s the kind of color so hard to capture it doesn’t have a typical name. Behr calls it Climate Change.
“You could drive yourself crazy with this stuff,” said Grant Moss, a senior lecturer in music and organist at Smith College, as he scanned paint chips in Home Depot in Hadley. Moss was searching for light purples for a stenciling project. He had a good laugh looking over some of the paint names.
Notorious purple. NYPD blue. Moss shook his head. Climate Change caught his eye.
“Climate change shouldn’t be that color. It should be an orange,” Moss said, pointing to a pinkish-orange chip. Its name: Balcony Sunset.
Peter Prado, a products and services representative for Behr, said that the company tries to find “innovative” ways to name their paints. He noted that in 2019, Behr paid a “Color Explorer” to travel North America, studying colors and places to “apply that inspiration into Behr’s color names.” Among other hues, the winner came back with a shade of aqua — inspired by Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada — named Mermaid Tears.
But Prado is unaware of the stories behind most paint names, including Climate Change. On its website, Behr recommends a number of coordinated palettes with that shade as the main color: One option pairs Climate Change with a pinkish Creme Fraiche, a soft-green Back To Nature, and a subdued Green Power.
Todd Sienkiewicz, who helps manage Florence Hardware, said he doesn’t know how the paints he carries (Sherwin-Williams and Do It Best) get their names. But he noted that a few classic names continue, even when the colors slightly change. “Things like Dover white, antique white, those names carry over,” he said, “and we sell whatever the trend is.” Names hardly matter to customers in his experience, he added.
They clearly matter to someone. Behr’s competitors have a range of names for similar shades to Climate Change. Valspar has Summer Mist. Sherwin-Williams has Queen Anne’s Lace. Benjamin Moore has Springview Green.
“Climate change is a bad name for a color,” said Sienkiewicz with a grimace. “Doesn’t evoke a good feeling.”