Taking On Exxon by Michael Elbrecht

Mike Elbrecht

ENC 1101

11/17/09

Joshua Mehler

Taking On Exxon…

Exxon Mobil’s new advertising campaign tries to change public opinion about big oil companies.  Exxon attempts this makeover using a variety of “feel good” advertisements which stress progress in technology, research, and environmental consciousness.  Each advertisement in Exxon’s new, clean, campaign is united under a few common themes.  The advertisements are visually similar but also have similar messages.  However nice these “feel good” advertisements try to be, they only serve as a cover for the truly greedy and exploitative intentions.  Exxon’s advertisements emphasize the future and promote progress.  In my anti-advertisement to Exxon’s new marketing campaign I will demonstrate how, in reality, Exxon is fighting to prevent progress in the current climate change effort.

The imagery used in Exxon Mobil’s advertisements focuses on progress.  Progress encompasses all aspects of the oil industry: cleaner fuels, new technologies, and cutting edge research.  This effort is all done in order to generate a new face for the company, mainly, a green and progressive one.  The most noticeable element in the advertisement is the black and white coloring.  There are other colors in the ad but there is an emphasis on the black and white colors.  It could be to show that the company wants to be seen as decisive rather than vague which could hypothetically be associated with the color grey.  Or it could be an example of Exxon attempting to be different and modern.  In the black and white scenes there is a person talking to the viewer, explaining whatever the particular ad is focusing on such as, cleaner fuels, new technology, new research and so on.  The person is dressed professionally to give the advertisement credibility.  The spokesperson is speaking in a conversational manner and talking with his or her hands.  This is an obvious attempt to connect with the viewer and convey the newfound sense of progress.  The text that accompanies the spokesperson tells the person’s name and occupation, usually a scientist or engineer, adding to the overall credibility of the advertisement.

Another obvious and recurring visual element in the Exxon Mobil advertisements is the chain of molecules.  This chain of molecules is present in the background.  It gives the advertisement a scientific and futuristic aura.  Along with the chain of molecules are molecular formulas which emphasize the idea that Exxon scientists are working in labs, looking for new chemicals that could serve as possible clean fuels.  The chain of molecules and formulas are an attempt to establish a sense of scientific credibility in the commercial.  These images add to the theme of Exxon’s new progressive approach to solving energy problems.

Along with the clever use text and imagery, Exxon utilizes sound in its new advertising campaign.  There is music played in the background loud enough for the listener to hear but not overpowering the spokesperson’s voice.  The modern music chosen for the commercial is upbeat and rings with innovation.  There is no doubt that the music was carefully chosen to enhance the progressive and “green” message.  The contemporary music is similar to the popular music of the young generation towards which Exxon Mobil attempts to appeal.

The persistent text in the beginning of each advertisement reads, Exxon: “Taking on the world’s toughest energy challenges.”  This motto tries to make the reader feel as if it is Exxon Mobil’s sole mission to solve the energy crisis.  The motto attempts to establish Exxon as the forerunner in the field of new clean technologies.  The motto also tries to set Exxon apart from the other big oil companies, towards which many people feel negatively.  People associate big oil companies with the harm that the burning of fossil fuels and the company’s practices cause to the environment and the simultaneous unprecedented profits.  This refers back to the main theme of creating a new face for Exxon, in this case, one that is a problem solver in the current worsening energy crisis.

Exxon Mobil’s new “feel good” and progressive advertising campaign is directed toward an environmentally conscious audience.  This audience primarily includes: young people, liberals, and people concerned with the environment.  One idea that all these groups have in common is the belief, or supposed misbelieve in Exxon Mobil’s case, that big oil companies are extremely detrimental to the environment.  Exxon realizes this and is trying to reestablish itself as environmentally clean, progressive and even as a leader in taking on the world’s toughest energy problems.  This is a very drastic leap for Exxon.  But imagine from their point of view how profitable a move it would be if this big oil company could gain the business of the “green movement”.  This sounds almost like an impossible task: an oil company convincing environmentally conscious people that their products are in harmony with the people’s green ideals.  This fresh, futuristic marketing campaign could be enough to capture those elusive “go green” customers, even if that means making a few hazy guarantees about future technologies.

All these advertising methods take advantage of the “green movement”.  This series of commercials through the Exxon Mobil propaganda machine is an obvious attempt to re-establish itself as eco-friendly.  Exxon Mobil exploits people who are genuinely trying to live “green” for its own monetary gain.   Exxon takes advantage and appeals to people’s environmental interests and covers up with vague promises of new, clean fuels and technologies that will solve the future energy problem.  The company’s intentions expressed in the new advertising campaign contradict the company’s actions.

What Exxon Mobil neglects to show in their advertisements is the harmful and profound negative effects of their products.  Exxon forgets to include all the pollution and the resulting damaging effects it has on the environment.  Exxon does not show the exploited people and animals that are taken at the expense of the big oil company’s tremendous profit.  One infamous case in ExxonMobil’s history is the Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989.  It was one of the worst human caused environmental disasters at sea.  The oil spill of 10.8 million gallons covered 11,000,000 square miles and devastated area.  The effects of the oil spill decimated the wildlife population in the area.  The area was home to salmon, seals, sea otters, and sea birds (1989 Valdez Oil Spill 1).  Exxon does not show their astronomically high profits in a struggling economy in which many companies are going bankrupt.  In 2007 ExxonMobil broke its own record for a single company’s profit, recording $40.6 billion, an increase of three percent from the previous year.  Instead, Exxon would rather vaguely describe how they are investing huge sums of money into environmentally clean energies.  I do not blame them, who would want to buy their product if they really knew what the actual practices were?  That is why millions of people have boycotted Exxon Mobil, each person trying to make a difference against the oil giant.  Organizations working on the anti-ExxonMobil campaign include: Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists and MoveOn.org Political Action (Mouawad 1).

My anti-advertisement is all about preventing progress in the fields of climate change consciousness and new environmentally clean energies.  Why would the companies and executives want to change anything as long as the profits grow .  They will probably be gone by the time the world runs out of oil, and if they are alive they will have so much money that they will not have to worry.  If the system is not broken, why fix it?  My anti-advertisement emphasizes the negative effects of Exxon’s practices and the information that was left out of their ads or information that was intended to be misleading.  It will set the record straight. It takes a commercial approach and makes the Exxon Mobil product actually look terrible. The anti-advertisement will emphasize the negative effects of fossil fuels and the dependence of society on oil.  The anti-ad will show people how two-sided and misleading Exxon is, and how their advertisements do not reflect their actions.

The text in my anti-advertisement to Exxon Mobil’s new marketing campaign mimics the text used in the Exxon commercial.  The purpose is to get the reader to see the connection made between the two advertisements.  Underneath the Exxon Mobil name is a slogan similar to the company’s actual slogan but slightly altered.  Instead of the text, “Taking on the world’s toughest challenges”, the anti advertisement slogan reads, “Perpetuating the world’s toughest energy problems.”  This usage of play on words points out the company’s real intentions to the reader.  The similar slogan reinforces the connection made between the actual and anti-advertisement.  The goal of the mimicking texts and styles is to make an obvious contradiction easily apparent to the reader.  This contradiction would go completely unnoticed if not for the anti-advertisement.

The imagery in the my anti-advertisement to Exxon Mobil’s progressive marketing campaign emphasizes the visuals left out of the actual Exxon Mobil commercial.  In the anti-advertisement there is an oil well in a desert.  At this particular oil well, oil is gushing from the top like a fountain.  The oil is drawn in tear drop shapes in all directions from the well. To the right of the well the oil drops become images associated with the negative effects of oil.  To make the advertisement more thought provoking the images coming out of the oil are not exactly how they would appear in real life.  Instead the oil related images are ink-blot shaped but maintain the intended shape so that the reader can see the resemblance.  The ink-blot shapes are a reference to the Rorschach, or ink-blot, test which is used to test the mental state of patients.  The images in the Rorschach test are not of any object because it is the viewer’s goal to make out an image given the blot of ink.

There are two reasons why I chose this Rorschach test reference in my anti-advertisement depicting images associated with oil.  The first is because the curvy, round, black ink-blots look similar to oil spills.  It is more effective to draw the images in the shape of oil spills because it forces the reader to make the connection between the two objects.  The second reason is to get the reader to understand that the images Exxon uses are not what they seem.  The images require a deeper insight to find the true meaning, in this case that what the oil company is profiting from is war and violence.  Many people see the current war in Iraq as a war for oil.  And those who do not see it that way will realize that in the near future nations will be fighting over essential resources, primarily fossil fuels, as they become rarer.  The current rate that our world is literally burning through fossil fuel reserves can only go so long before it becomes even more violent.  Exxon neglects to show any of this in it commercial, so the anti-advertisement emphasizes the crisis and the covering up of the crisis with the use of the ink-blot images.

The images in the Exxon Mobil anti-advertisement are directly related the world’s energy problems.  They are a military tank, a rifle, the dollar sign, and the word “oil”.  All these images are drawn in reference to the Rorschach test.  They combine to form one image resembling a typical ink-blot.  Each image has its own powerful meaning.  And the final component of the anti-advertisement is a line of text underneath the ink-blot styled images that reads, “What do you see?”  The question puts a final point to the anti-advertisement, making the reader think in a new light about Exxon Mobil.

In Exxon Mobil’s new, environmentally conscious, and progressive advertising campaign, the company attempts to re-establish itself as a “green” company.  Exxon is aiming its advertisements towards a young, liberal audience and people concerned with the environment and anthropogenic effects.  In doing so, Exxon cleverly uses text, imagery, and sound together to form a modern and fresh commercial.  However forward-thinking this “feel good” advertising campaign may seem at the first glance, in reality, the company is only perpetuating the energy problems.  I aim to inform and educate readers about what was left out of the Exxon Mobil advertisements in my anti-advertisement which shows the negative effects oil has on the world.  The text and visuals in the anti-advertisement reveal how the company’s advertisements do not reflect their actions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Mouawad, Jad.  “Exxon Mobil Profit Sets Record Again.” New York Times. New York Times, 1 Feb. 2008: Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

“1989 Valdez Oil Spill.”  ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil, 19 Mar. 2009: Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

 

LINK TO EXXON MOBIL COMMERCIAL– http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/news_ad_corpus_hydrogen.aspx