Culture shifts over time, perspectives change, and things that once seemed fine in one generation start to look awful in the eyes of the next. Take for example the time that Exxon-Mobil’s predecessor bragged about its ability to melt glaciers.
Bragging About Melting Glaciers
Advertisers of yesteryear dealt with different consumer bases than those of today. It is thus unsurprising that some ads from the past aged like garbage left outside on a hot summer’s day. They might have been ho hum and run of the mill when they first ran. However, because of social, cultural, political, or scientific advances and changes, things that seemed like a good idea and that were perfectly acceptable in one era, came to be seen in another era as odd or even offensive.
A prime illustration is an ad that ran in 1962 that, presumably, aimed to polish up the image of Humble Oil & Refining Company – eventually rebranded as Exxon – for its Ecno brand gasoline. Contra its name, Humble Oil boasted of its size and technical efficiency by bragging that it could melt millions of tons of glaciers every single day of the year. As the text screamed: “EACH DAY HUMBLE SUPPLIES ENOUGH ENERGY TO MELT 7 MILLION TONS OF GLACIER!” Then, as seen below, it went into the nitty-gritty of just how nifty melting glaciers was.
An Ad That Aged Like Garbage
Humble Oil’s ad went on to add: “This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries. Yet, the petroleum energy Humble supplies — if converted into heat — could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second! To meet the nation’s growing needs for energy, Humble has supplied science to nature’s resources to become America’s Leading Energy Company. Working wonders with oil through research, Humble provides energy in many forms — to help heat our homes, power our transportation, and to furnish industry with a great variety of versatile chemicals. Stop at a Humble station for new Enco Extra gasoline, and see why the “Happy Motoring” Sign is the World’s First Choice!”
Obviously, Humble Oil’s not-so-humble brag that it could melt seven million tons of glaciers every day aged like garbage. Just a few years after that ad ran, climate researchers began to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming – caused in large part by fossil fuels such as those produced by Humble Oil. When the ad ran in 1962, its creators probably patted themselves on the back, blissfully ignorant of what lay in store: that the fossil fuel industry would get an awful rap, and that melting glaciers would become a major symbol of the dangers of global warming and of the risks of continued reliance on fossil fuels.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
Bill Moyers – Exxon-Mobil: More Than 50 Proud Years of Melting Glaciers!
History Halls – The Math Mistake That Made Spinach a Super Food
Snopes – Did a 1960s Oil Company Ad Boast How Much Glacier It Could Melt?
