Luxury Gasoline

In the course of my daily TV watching, I noticed that Shell Oil is running ads for their gasoline, comparing it favorably to "discount gas". Two things come to mind: First, you seldom see companies advertising so openly that their product is more expensive. I see those ads, and I say, sign me up for some discount gas please.

Second, discount gasoline? I'm a normal American, and until I saw these ads, and possibly still, I had thought of gasoline as fungible, like pork bellies or gold. I guess in principle it doesn't have to be; gasoline could have more or fewer additives, or be leaded or unleaded, or have a variable octane rating. But gasoline futures are traded in commodities exchanges, and that argues that there's a same-yness about gasoline that makes one gallon good as another to the boys in the pit with the ticker. During the Cola Wars, you didn't see Coke and Pepsi traded indistinguishably under the heading of "Light Sweet Cola".

I think the man on the street still thinks of gasoline like electricity or water, as something that comes out of the tap, and you either take what's on offer or you don't. He's going to have a hard time believing that gasoline can come in brands. Of course, that's what they said about water, but at least bottled water has its bottle to create brand awareness with. All gasoline has is the pump, and that shell graphic is looking pretty tired. Is "seashells" really what the youth of today associate with "luxury gasoline"? Myself, when all is said and done, I'm pretty tempted to go with the discount gas. If you're going to get into the gasoline marketing business, Shell, you need to get in it to win it.