Vladimir Putin: Chevron’s Man of the Year?

I don’t know what the situation is in other areas, but Chevron’s use-less-energy ads, launched last fall, are still thick and heavy in the DC area.  Its campaign, dubbed “Will You Join Us?”, shows people promising to use their cars less and “unplug things more.”

The print ads are plastered over subway car interiors and bus stops, while the TV spots proliferate during the Sunday morning talk shows.  For reasons I’ve described elsewhere, I don’t like them.  Oil gets demonized by lots of groups these days, but the notion of an oil company dissing its chief product seems perverse, and doesn’t bode well for the future of mobility.

So what does Chevron think of Vladimir Putin’s recent cut-off of Russian gas to the Ukraine and beyond? It seems to me that Chevron should applaud him.  Putin may have monetary and military reasons for his action, but he’s also reducing energy use and encouraging conservation.

I think Chevron should give Putin a major role in its ad campaign.  Here’s CEI’s suggestion: