CHICAGO – Seven years ago, I proposed on Seeking Alpha that BP, formerly British Persia and British Petroleum and now just BP, bring back the Amoco brand as an option for franchisees. This was during the BP oil spill fiasco, which was, at the time, a big mess. They justMORE HERE
The inventiveness of the 20th century left us with many viable, yet sometimes overlooked, genius brands. One such brand is the Heatilator, a fireplace heating system that gets more efficiency and safety out of the fireplace. Heatilator was the idea of making a cast iron wood stove look like aMORE HERE
The Texaco brand is still a potent icon on the highways of the United States and world. As oil companies struggle with the low price of gas, this is perhaps the perfect time for its parent company to refocus attention on this icon of American history. A downturn is theMORE HERE
MOLLUSK, Virginia – One of the most brilliant recent relaunches of a great American brand is the rebirth of Gulf. The company almost totally disappeared, the only remnant being the assorted consumer products branded with Gulf. Pictured here, a new Gulf station and pump in the tiny “town” of Mollusk,MORE HERE
MATHEWS, Va. – For brand archaeologists, the best dig site is Cracker Barrel. They are fascinating museums of America’s business history, not to mention their gift shops filled with old-time brands. Here pictured in a restaurant near Jacksonville, Florida are cans of Tidewater Long Wearing Motor Oil. We thank CatesbyMORE HERE
The news that BP stations are suffering under a growing boycott threat is natural and understandable. Consumers are frustrated with the federal government and Obama’s response. They will have to wait until November to vote. So a boycott threat is really the only thing they can do. Better than throwingMORE HERE
SARASOTA – BP is the joke at our local comedy club. The joke won’t work in print, but the line involved something about bombs and how the BP owner was wishing he had purchased some other filling station brand like Racetrack. The beaches are still pristine here in this partMORE HERE
Old Navy’s got some old brands at its stores this spring. Shirts with logos of the Ford Pinto, Gulf Oil, Texaco and Standard Oil of California are out. The Standard is particularly good, eh?MORE HERE
One of the more forgotten sub-brands of a major oil company is Marfak Lubrication. Marfak was the lube brand of Texaco and Caltex. If Havoline was the actual oil, Marfak was the process. I can’t say it was actually used much as a verb, as I never heard the wordMORE HERE