In Challenging Energy Market, Chevron Responds - With 2.5 Minute TV Commercial - WP

[hatrack]

A 2 1/2 -minute television commercial will debut this weekend, directed by Lance Acord, the cinematographer on "Lost in Translation," "Being John Malkovich" and "Marie Antoinette." It will feature music by the British composer Paul Leonard-Morgan, who was recently commissioned to write a piece for the U.S. Olympic Committee. And it will have an earnest voice-over by acclaimed indie actor Campbell Scott. All this theatrical firepower has been marshaled for a new "power of human energy" campaign by Chevron, a charter member of Big Oil (often seen as Big Bad Oil). In today's eco-conscious political environment, Chevron is trying to portray itself as a company with "people of vision" striving to meet today's energy needs while searching for better, cleaner ways to meet them in the future.

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hot in 22 locations in 13 countries over three months, the ads include real Chevron workers as well as actors. In an era when most TV ads are getting shorter, the Chevron ad that will air during "60 Minutes" this Sunday takes up an entire commercial break, which usually features five spots. The ad, along with three similar but shorter ones, will also appear on other television news shows and programs such as "Heroes," "Bionic Woman" and college football. A company official said the campaign will cost in "the high tens of millions of dollars."

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he ad opens with what appears to be faintly illuminated rainfall against a black background. The words "tapped energy" morph into "untapped energy." Suddenly the viewer is gliding over glaciers, then a skyscraper lit up at night. "And outside the debate rages," Campbell Scott's narration begins. Images flicker: a drop of oil on rocks, an oil derrick, a smog-covered city, oil wells on fire.

"Oil, energy, the environment. It is the story of our time," Scott continues. Images of megaphones, protesters. "And it leaves no one untouched. Because make no mistake. This isn't just about oil companies. This is about you and me" -- images flash of a mother feeding a child, a man walking a dog in the rain, crowded escalators -- "and the undeniable truth that at this moment there are 6.5 billion people on this planet. And by year's end there'll be another 73 million. And every one of us will need energy to live." Pause. "Where will it come from?" The ad's answer is that while Chevron produces solar and geothermal energy, oil is still needed.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/27/AR2007092702033.html

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

Good thing they didn't waste all that money on, y'know, building a solar-cell facility, or investing in some wind companies, or expanding efficiency programs, or hiring some engineers, huh?

[glowing]

1. How do you know they haven't? I think when big oil knows how to

corner the market on solar energy.. it will become a viable solution.. But as now..anyone can go and change their home into an energy efficient solar powered system... it costs money, but the savings in energy cost make up for it over the lifespan of living in a home.

As for engineers? Oil companies employee a lot of these people for their companies.

[hatrack]

2. I don't give a DAMN - we are out of time, and this is deck-chair twiddling at its finest

Things just started moving a WHOLE lot faster around here, and if you'd been paying attention to the climate issues posted on this board, you'd already know that.

I cannot think of a more misguided, pathetic misallocation of resources than spending tens of millions of dollars on some greenwash bullshit to impart a soft-focus glow to the activities of people who, as an inescapable necessity of their jobs, are going to do their damndest to pump as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as is humanly possible, as quickly as possible, to make as much money as quickly as possible.

The "logic" of business, the "logic" of capitalism, the all-conquering "logic" of markets makes it inevitable that they will do so.

I don't believe that the directors or employees of Chevron are evil, merely that they're capable, as are we all, of possessing the ability to hold one set of beliefs and, in full knowledge of those beliefs, perform actions that totally negate and contradict them. Human nature, I suppose.

Do you, or does anyone on this board believe that if Chevron, or any other oil company were to discover a field of 10 billion barrels of oil, or 10 trillion m3 of natural gas, they would act to protect the environment in the most direct way possible - by not developing it? Yeah, I didn't think so either. Why do that when you can hire Burston Marsteller or Fleishman Hilliard to run a slick PR campaign, right?

I've been flying close to the flame on Environment & Energy for a long time now, for good or ill. I'm not out of humor, I'm not out of curiosity, but the one thing I'm well and truly out of is a tolerance for bullshit - especially corporate greenwash bullshit.

[GliderGuider]

3. What you said

:applause: :yourock:

[glowing]

5. I was talking to an engineer a while back... smart guy. He said he

had a theory... of course everyone does... but I wonder if it has merrit... He said he thinks the oil is much like a protection barrier for the earth's inner core. And by us pumping it out like we are.. the oceans temperatures are rising... and our atmosphere is becoming effected by this. It was an interesting theory. He also wondered if volcanic activity would begin increasing due to this layer being dilluted. Geo-stuff facinates me. So much we don't know still about our own earth.. simply amazing.

[hatrack]

6. Huh? Oil occurs only in Earth's crust, not in the mantle, inner or outer cores

I have no idea what this engineer was talking about or who he works for - perhaps the Edgar Cayce Institute of Science?

However, I think it's safe to say that it he was not a petroleum engineer.

[glowing]

7. No, he def. does not.

This is not the place to discuss science, theories, or anything else within this spectrum. There are too many who don't understand scientific methods and equations and modeling. And these days anyone with any theory that hasn't been condoned by MSM is nailed as an enabler.. junk scientist.. etc. etc. I am very practicle. I can look over someone's journal and do so with a trained eye. I don't need someone in MSM telling me what it says. Science is a journey into the unknown. You hypothesize, perform the experiment, and present the info. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't and sometimes some scientists make astounding discoveries that are just too cool... a lot of it is monotonous, controlled, and takes years to collect the data. Also, I like to check on journals from around the world. The USA and Europe are not the only one's performing scientific experiments. I just love testing different theories. I like the exploration. I like taking it beyond. A scientist is not content unless they push beyond the norm.. otherwise the monotonous part becomes tedious and boring and you have to retire. Did you know 30 years ago, they were predicting that we were going to enter into a ice age and it would cause world wide epidemics? I guess that hypothesis was thrown out.... Always ask, always wonder, always dream... that's innovation.

I am not saying oil is good. Leave it in the ground. There are many other ways to obtain energy that are sustainable and do not create violence and wars and economic depravation of societies or change the saturation of carbon in the atmosphere and oceans so that there is less % of the other things like oxygen.

[hatrack]

8. Thank you for that exciting journey into the amazing world of science!

It was very interesting.

[glowing]

9. Thank you... personally... I think there are a combination of factors

that are leading to global climate change.. I think methane and carbon dioxide emitions are a part of that factor. There is a lot to consider when you are creating a modeling system. There are a lot of pieces and parts to put into the computer model.

[hermetic]

4. You got it.

When I was reading the OP and got to the words, cost in "the high tens of millions of dollars.", my thoughts were: :wtf:

Way to problem solve, Chevron.

Sure am glad I don't watch television any more. Crap like this is insidious.

Keep up the good work, hatrack!