Start Digging The Graves...
Big Oil's Propaganda
Big Oil's Propaganda
Big Oil is terminally ill. You wouldn't know it by their profits, but the walking dead frequently appear just fine until you know about the disease. No one except those who own and/or work for Big Oil likes oil. It's now considered a necessary evil. When the product contains the word "evil" anywhere, you know the fat lady is about to sing. No one wants oil anymore. Everyone wants a cleaner, cheaper alternative. These companies see the end coming, but they are still on deck with their buckets, furiously trying to empty the water from the Titanic. How do we know? Their completely absurd self-promoting advertising is the giveaway. Big Oil is now pouring millions of dollars into advertisements to convince consumers that they aren't dying, and in fact, are actually integral to the future and are ideally positioned to take us forward into a world of non-oil-based energy. They are no different than the alcoholic ex-boyfriends that keeping promising that they've really changed this time. These metaphors are killing me! Now let us consider a few examples of their futility...
First lets deal with Exxon. This ad features an array of stooges posing as scientists (who presumably work for Exxon) telling us about all the ways they'll be improving our lives through with their innovative "technologies". They start by framing their concern as environmental in nature. It doesn't take five seconds before the nonsense starts. Does anyone seriously think that the company which posts the largest corporate profits in history, every year, would be doing ANY of this craziness if everyone hadn't started to freak out over gas prices and global warming? Why would they? Why should they change? Obviously, they have no problem making the largest corporate profits ever by selling us good old fashioned oil. Yet, they are so audacious as to think they can drop millions of dollars telling us that they are actually concerned about consumers and we'll all go along with it. No doubt, I trust that Exxcon will lead the way. Did you see that? ExxCON???!
But wait! Exxon isn't the only oil company in the game. Don't forget British Petroleum, or BP, or "Beyond Petroleum" (I just love those marketing wizards!). They start their ad with a slightly different premise than Exxon. BP begins by assuming that we already think they have a role in new energy. Exxon seems desperate to convince us, so they have to bring in a bunch of scientist-looking folks of different ethnic origins. BP doesn't bother with any of that. They go straight to the "man on the street" and ask "What would you ask an oil company?" As if it were any surprise, the actors/dupes they have cast wish to ask BP what they plan to do about air quality and alternatives to oil. That's the first thing I thought of. I didn't think "How dare you rape the planet for all it's worth, for as long as you could get away with it, then hold us hostage by offering us the Earth's natural resources for a ransom, while claiming you care!" Don't let the ingratiating "hopeful" sounding music at the end fool you either.
I've saved the best for last! Energy Tomorrow started putting out ads during the presidential primaries that featured a lady named Brooke Alexander. She used to act in soaps, so she was perfectly suited for this! She's still out there selling out whatever soul she has left to a promotion called "Energy Tomorrow" which is actually an ad campaign from the American Petroleum Institute (API), largest U.S trade association for the oil and natural gas industry. She starts by saying "Oil and natural gas powered the past". That's really interesting because on the American Petroleum Institute's webpage it says "API is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry". So is the API like... some sort of medieval guild? Our friend Brooke then tells us that a "growing world will need more" and proposes, unbelievably, a sixty year plan using "oil and natural gas resources right here". But, wait... didn't she just say...? Yes, she said "oil and natural gas powered the past" AND THEN that we have enough for the "next 60 years". Sixty years sounds pretty safe. But why not 500 years? Because then we'd think they were trying to trick us. So 60 years is a nice number that sounds safe and yet means absolutely nothing. She used the word alternative once, but didn't mention any actual alternatives, which isn't surprising since she represents the OIL AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY. There obviously is no alternative. Never mind that though. We'll all be gone in 60 years anyway, right? Or at least that old bag in the commercials will be gone.
Here's the thing to remember. We don't know the name of the company that will provide us with new sources of energy. Just like we didn't know what a "Microsoft" was in 1973. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to start digging the graves.
First lets deal with Exxon. This ad features an array of stooges posing as scientists (who presumably work for Exxon) telling us about all the ways they'll be improving our lives through with their innovative "technologies". They start by framing their concern as environmental in nature. It doesn't take five seconds before the nonsense starts. Does anyone seriously think that the company which posts the largest corporate profits in history, every year, would be doing ANY of this craziness if everyone hadn't started to freak out over gas prices and global warming? Why would they? Why should they change? Obviously, they have no problem making the largest corporate profits ever by selling us good old fashioned oil. Yet, they are so audacious as to think they can drop millions of dollars telling us that they are actually concerned about consumers and we'll all go along with it. No doubt, I trust that Exxcon will lead the way. Did you see that? ExxCON???!
But wait! Exxon isn't the only oil company in the game. Don't forget British Petroleum, or BP, or "Beyond Petroleum" (I just love those marketing wizards!). They start their ad with a slightly different premise than Exxon. BP begins by assuming that we already think they have a role in new energy. Exxon seems desperate to convince us, so they have to bring in a bunch of scientist-looking folks of different ethnic origins. BP doesn't bother with any of that. They go straight to the "man on the street" and ask "What would you ask an oil company?" As if it were any surprise, the actors/dupes they have cast wish to ask BP what they plan to do about air quality and alternatives to oil. That's the first thing I thought of. I didn't think "How dare you rape the planet for all it's worth, for as long as you could get away with it, then hold us hostage by offering us the Earth's natural resources for a ransom, while claiming you care!" Don't let the ingratiating "hopeful" sounding music at the end fool you either.
I've saved the best for last! Energy Tomorrow started putting out ads during the presidential primaries that featured a lady named Brooke Alexander. She used to act in soaps, so she was perfectly suited for this! She's still out there selling out whatever soul she has left to a promotion called "Energy Tomorrow" which is actually an ad campaign from the American Petroleum Institute (API), largest U.S trade association for the oil and natural gas industry. She starts by saying "Oil and natural gas powered the past". That's really interesting because on the American Petroleum Institute's webpage it says "API is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry". So is the API like... some sort of medieval guild? Our friend Brooke then tells us that a "growing world will need more" and proposes, unbelievably, a sixty year plan using "oil and natural gas resources right here". But, wait... didn't she just say...? Yes, she said "oil and natural gas powered the past" AND THEN that we have enough for the "next 60 years". Sixty years sounds pretty safe. But why not 500 years? Because then we'd think they were trying to trick us. So 60 years is a nice number that sounds safe and yet means absolutely nothing. She used the word alternative once, but didn't mention any actual alternatives, which isn't surprising since she represents the OIL AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY. There obviously is no alternative. Never mind that though. We'll all be gone in 60 years anyway, right? Or at least that old bag in the commercials will be gone.
Here's the thing to remember. We don't know the name of the company that will provide us with new sources of energy. Just like we didn't know what a "Microsoft" was in 1973. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to start digging the graves.
