When I was growing up, gasoline advertising was sort of cool. Those of a certain age can remember Esso's (it wasn't Exxon yet) "Put A Tiger In Your Tank!" ads. You could also go to an Esso station and get a little furry tiger tail that would hang out your gas tank, showing that, indeed, you had done what the ad told you to do, and had put a tiger in your tank.
Now the ads are all about conservation, saving resources, drilling in God-forsaken places. And BP with its Beyond Petroleum campaign, which any good oil person got sick of very, very quickly.
So lo and behold, BP, of all companies, has a new advertising campaign, and it's fun. At least, it tries to be. It's got enough attention that the advertising columnist for Slate, an online magazine, has reviewed it.
I was a big exxon tiger fan until the Valdez Oil spill in Alaska.
Yes, as the Slate writer observes, many people don't choose a gas station out of brand loyalty. But some do, often because they want to use the branded credit card. And some people shun certain stations out of brand hostility; as recalled by the previous commenter, the Valdez spill created brand awareness that in my experience steered buyers -- clearly not good oil people -- away from Exxon for a long time.
Yes, I remember the funny tiger tail, and since a long time ago, I only buy fuel on Exxon, it feels nice to have a company that you know have a good oil people. And yes, I know about the Valdez spill, but that show to all companies the importance of being a good oil people (or try it to) and made a lot of precedures to ensure the animal conservation. Thanks, I like your post.
The article is correct - for the most part. I personally fill up at the cheapest, nearest station (generally the Valero nearest my house.)
HOWEVER, there are two mitigating factors, especially in unfamiliar areas.
1. I won't stop at a nasty-looking station, especially if I need to go inside and get a snack or something.
2. I personally will not stop at a CITGO-branded station for political reasons. While I realize that my little boycott of Hugo Chavez won't make any difference, it just feels better to not put money into his pockets. Other people will shop for similar political-type reasons (such as CITGO, BP's 'green' program, EXXON, etc.)