Business Slogan 2: Put a Tiger in your Tank
carefully crafted business slogan speaks volumes of it’s brand values and promises, successfully.
Guess who wrote this, and when was the slogan created:
“Put a Tiger in your Tank.”
Find out the answer by clicking here:
Answer: Esso Gasline
(Slogan written in 1959, advertisement with Esso Tiger developed by McCann-Erickson, 1964)
The tiger is seen as the king of the forest. It epitomizes regality, supremacy strength, and energy. Don’t you like having the king empowering you as you speed down the highway fast and free?
Great line from Emery Smith, the copywriter of an advertising agency from Chicago tasked by Esso in 1959 to create a newspaper advertisement to boost petrol sale.
In 1964, a lovable tiger cartoon character was introduced. Coupled with the slogan, the new look was a hit. Sales soared and the entire advertising campaign was the talking point in the industry. So much so that the famous Time magazine proclaimed 1964 as “The Year of the Tiger” along Madison Avenue. Within 12 months, the Esso Tiger were seen roaming throughout Europe, Australia and the Far East. Interesting, Esso brought back live tiger in the 1970 and it has co-existed with the cartoon tiger in most of Exxon’s worldwide markets. In 1982, Exxon featured the live tiger in USA, and it is also seen as a moving car that turns into a racing tiger in TVCs. Among the most talk about promotion campaign that Esso has done worldwide is having car owners tying a fake tiger tails to their petrol tanks to win great prizes.
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[tags]slogan, business slogan, company slogan, corporate slogan, famous slogan, popular slogan, advertising slogan, brand value, branding, brand, meaning behind Esso slogan, Put a Tiger in your tank, Esso[/tags]
6 Replies to “Business Slogan 2: Put a Tiger in your Tank”
Esso Gas Line: Slogan (1964): “Put a Tiger in your Tank”
Who knew this slogan would come back 35 years later
and apply to currents events? ‘Tiger Woods’ (2009)
The slogan was taken from the title of a 1960’s song by Muddy Waters.
Put a tiger in your tank and travel with speed as of that of tiger.
Pretty creative indeed and it does signify a lot. Just a question, why not a Lion? I thought the lion was the king of the jungle – not the tiger.
The Esso Tiger is probably amongst the world’s most famous tigers. In 1936, Esso used a tiger in a newspaper advertisement for its Ethyl Motor Oil. It was short-live because petrol advertising halted due to WWII. The tiger was only resurrected in 1953 by Exxon (now known as Exxon Mobil). Exxon was the American parent company of Esso. The success of these advertisements persuaded several European affiliates to follow. In 1959, a Chicago ad agency was tasked by Exxon to create an advertisement to boost petrol sale. Copywriter, Emery Smith came up with the now famous line “Put a tiger in your tank”.