Big Oil Will Answer Energy, Environmental Concerns With New PR Campaign

[hatrack]

Ashlee Simpson isn’t the only one obsessed with changing her appearance. In an attempt to salvage its battered image, Big Oil has turned to an image expert for a makeover.

We learned from an article (paid subscribers only, unfortunately) today in The Wall Street Journal that the oil industry plans to launch its first-ever major advertising campaign in January, with the help of Harris Interactive, a Rochester-based market-research group (and the folks that polished milk’s reputation). Looks like nagging concerns over high gas prices and our fossil-fuel addiction are finally getting to the multi-billion dollar industry.

The oil industry’s image is “really in a free-fall,” Jean Statler, the Harris senior vice-president overseeing the campaign, said at a recent oil industry conference in Dallas. “Things are really as low as they’ve been in a long time—maybe ever.” Individual oil companies have long used advertising campaigns to boost brand loyalty and to counter environmentally related criticisms. The American Petroleum Institute, the oil-and-gas industry’s Washington-based trade group, says its new campaign is a broader effort to “educate” consumers and policy makers about how the energy industry works. The industry says its research shows that the more people know about energy, the more likely they are to support the industry’s Washington agenda.

And just in case you’re wondering how much this is all going to cost; hasn’t set a budget for the effort. “We will spend what’s necessary to achieve the objective,” Mr. Caveny says.

EDIT

http://plentymag.com/thecurrent/2006/11/big_oil_gets_a_facelift.php

[aquart]

1. Now there's a BushCo solution: more PR.

[phantom power]

2. They can re-hire those young hipsters that the coal industry used

in their recent PR campaign.

[hunter]

3. The MOD squad from "Thank You for Smoking" -- Merchants Of Death.

Great movie, BTW.