The increasingly massive arrival of electric vehicles is disrupting the automobile market. Cars are converting to electric, which disrupts the product as such, but also everything that revolves around the field. The oil industry is directly affected by the current transformation, and one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, ExxonMobil created an advertisement that encourages the driving of vehicles equipped with a heat engine.
Disconnection
The advertisement is clear. With a duration of almost 2 minutes, it aims at the technological connection. In the sequence, we see many individuals in classic daily activities, such as running or being in a business meeting. These people are nevertheless connected by several electric cables which dangle behind them.
Wires are disturbing to individuals and complicate their lives. Towards the end of the video, a man, still connected by several cables, is behind his computer in a dark room accompanied by his dog. He hears a car passing in the street and seems to have an idea. He leaves his house, gets into his van, obviously a Chevrolet Colorado, and decides to go for a walk. The famous wires which prevent him from living normally are cut, and the following sentence appears: “Disconnecting. Feels a lot like breaking free.”
The oil company then adds: “For the love of driving”, “the world’s leading synthetic motor oil” arranged with the logo of Mobil1.
The electric cars affected by this ad?
Automatically, the video does not highlight electric vehicles to devalue or reduce their efficiency. If this campaign had been made by a tire company, for example, nothing could have suggested that the promotional campaign indirectly targets electric mobility.
On the other hand, in the current context where it is an oil and gas company that produces the message, it is possible to imagine that this marketing action has the objective of slightly attacking EVs. Cables are the stars and are viewed negatively in advertising; they deprive humanity of its independence.
Although electric car charging stations are not directly targeted, they are also made up of a wired system and are necessary for the proper functioning of this technological advance. In the sequence where the individual takes the wheel of his heat-engined van, the cut wires are seen for several seconds on the screen and show the liberation that humans experience when they are not connected to cables. Even if it is somewhat far-fetched, a certain association is created among viewers between freedom and driving a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, especially since Mobil1 is clearly promoting its motor oil.
According to Exxonmobile, this ad was designed to “make visible the invisible threads that keep us all hyperconnected.” The company then seems to focus more on the driving experience, but let’s say that the company did not refrain from highlighting the fact that driving a car with a combustion engine is the one to prioritize for true enthusiasts of piloting.
