Boycott Castrol !!!

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GROUCHO: “Food manufacturers use smaller package sizing to increase profits when they don't want to raise profits (e.g. 1lb. can of coffee now 10 oz.)”

Yep, that rubs me the wrong way when I see it … but they are required to print the amount/size of the product (along with a lot of other details about the product’s composition) on the container. A moderately astute buyer will catch on to this practice fairly quickly. With Castrol, it was YEARS before even the most informed gearheads figured out what they were doing with their base stocks. They were very sneaky (and some of us believe, unethical) about it and there was no way by looking at the bottle or the product a consumer could tell they had significantly changed their formula.
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Dubb: “If Castrol was, say, taking GTX and pouring it into Syntec bottles and then selling them for $4.99 a quart, this would be analogous to your examples. And if this were the case, I would absolutely agree.”

Well, what they did was pretty close to what you described. There’s not a world of difference between the better conventional oils out there (Group II+) and a Group III … certainly not enough to justify triple the price. Both Castrol GTX and Castrol Syntec are mineral oils … so in a way, that’s what they did. A new & improved version of the mineral-based GTX was re-labeled as Syntec 100% synthetic.

“But the ethical boundaries are not so black and white when we are talking about legitimate debates over the definition of what is organic. If a farmer produces foods using methods that meet the requirements of USDA certification, is he doing anything unethical by selling his product as organic?”

The ethics here are a very dark shade of grey. There was no USRDA (or API) type of certification in this case. There were merely commonly used industry standards as to what synthetic oil was and Castrol’s actions flew directly in the face of them. It was simple, if the liquid came out of the ground, it was NOT synthetic no matter how much you refined, filtered or otherwise processed it. Back to the “organic” example, there were were businesses (grocery stores and other outlets) selling produce labeled “organic” when in fact the items were not strictly so. Once this was discovered, it brought about a cry for industry standards. There was no “official” USRDA standard at the time and I’m not even sure if there is one in place right now. Currently, I believe the growers/producers use the California state standard. But there WAS a commonly known/practiced standard people in the food industry had adhered to up until some people had gotten caught violating it … or at least pushing its limits, i.e., “pesticide-free” is not the same as “organic.”

Actually, this food example is/was very close to what happened in the synthetic oil case … except the useless cowards at the API would not, could not come up with a technical definition for the word “synthetic.” Instead, it is now “mob rulz” when it comes to what can and cannot be called synthetic. It’s pretty bad when the granola crowd has it’s act together more than the petro-chemical industry. This mess does not, however, give cover to Castrol. At the time, the industry recognized that “synthetic” meant made-from-something-other-than-oil-from-the-ground. Everybody knew that and everyone respected that ... until Castrol's switch in 1997.
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Again, I’m not really interested in an organized boycott of Castrol, but I definitely look elsewhere for comparable products … and for good reason. We just can’t trust these guys.
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--- Bror Jace
 
Veedubb...

My purpose in posting this topic was to initiate a DISCUSSION about a topic that seems to be of interest to a great many folks...no more, no less.

In hindsight, the word "boycott" may have been a little strong...

That said, I do believe that all consumers vote for or against products simply by buying them...or choosing not to. Boycott in the simplest sense...maybe?

Finally, I think this discussion has demonstrated the fundamental rule of modern consumerism, that being:

Caveat Emptor... let the Buyer Beware...!!!

Information is the best defense... Learn the facts... Ask questions...

Enough said...
 
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