Chevron says “don’t buy our product”

Chevron has plastered ads throughout the Washington, DC transit system that have slogans such as “I will unplug things more” or “I will use less energy” or “I will take my golf clubs out of the trunk” or “I will at last consider a hybrid.”

I have never seen a company basically say “please, don’t buy or use our product. Really, don’t.” Could anyone imagine Apple with an ad campaign that says “I will listen to less music”? Or GM or Toyota putting an ad out saying “I will drive less”?

I have no idea what Chevron hopes to accomplish with its campaign. Maybe its just misguided, maybe they think that it will lead to Chevron being perceived more positively. My guess is that the general populace won’t think any better of oil companies until gas prices fall and stay in the mid-$2 range. I’m not suggesting any sort of conspiracy for high gas prices, but consumers weren’t happy about $4 gas. Environmental groups will never see energy companies in a positive light until we can run the whole electric grid off one hamster running in a wheel. That’d probably be considered animal cruelty, so substitute free-marketer for hamster.

Maybe I should short some Chevron stock, just in case that its ad campaign is just a little too successful.