All the proof I need comes from my own experience as well as from what I hear from the hundreds of painting contractors I know, they all hate Behr products. Most of their stuff is too thick and coverage is mediocre at best so you have to use more of it. Touch ups are impossible so if Behr is ranked high by Consumer Reports we all figure the fix is in. You are right, that's my opinion as well as hundreds of others in the paint business around here. We test stuff with brushes, rollers, spray rigs and our customer's satisfaction. Couldn't care less how Consumer Reports does their tests.
Sherwin Williams, Ben Moore, and Valspar all have decent stuff. Ben Moore enamels are top notch, great flow. Their oil enamels dry looking and feeling like glass. SW makes decent products but their retail lines of paint such as Harmony or Duration are over priced for what you get. Valspar makes great varnishes, their paints are average. Had a bucket of Clark Kensigton in my hand today. Not impressed. Cabot makes a very good exterior stain, better than most.
By the way I started in the paint business as a painter, got to paint in Graceland back when Elvis was still around. Since 1985 I have worked for one of those small, no name companies, Farrell Calhoun. Look us up on the internet. Our prices are usually more reasonable than all of the above yet the quality is there. Like our competitors we have strong products and ones that well maybe aren't so strong. We constantly test our competitors paints and varnishes. I've sprayed and rolled a many a gallon of everyone's and yes I am biased. Never the less I would rate Behr's products constantly near the bottom when it comes to workabilty, touch ups, durability to scrubbing, fading and the service you get when buying it. Their color matching is awful. We see it and hear about it all the time.
And yes we've been approached by companies that rate stuff. IMHO all you had to do was buy a little advertisement in one of their publications and hey you've got great stuff.
