I know this shouldnt be an issue, but do fancy bottles or flashy colors and graghics influence anyones oil purchases? Yesterday, I picked up my order of 5 gallon buckets of Delvac 1300, in 15w40 grade, and my first impression was, ugh. Bucket was "rust" colored, and had a plain white label, with black lettering, on the side. I may have passed over it had it been on display next to something more colorful. Just curious.
Flashy plastic bottles
- Thread starter MAJA
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Humans like bright shiny objects. So anything that is on display for purchase has to have attractive packaging. You can only get away with less flash if you are priced well below the market.
Industrial purchases are often decided without even seeing the product so in general packaging is decided on cost and efficiency rather than appearance.
BTW this is why basic V6 Manual Trans 1/2 Ton Trucks at the dealers often have Chrome, Carpet, and attractive trim while a 1-Ton Dually Diesel sold to a Industrial Firm will have flat-black trim and vinyl floor mats.
Gene
Industrial purchases are often decided without even seeing the product so in general packaging is decided on cost and efficiency rather than appearance.
BTW this is why basic V6 Manual Trans 1/2 Ton Trucks at the dealers often have Chrome, Carpet, and attractive trim while a 1-Ton Dually Diesel sold to a Industrial Firm will have flat-black trim and vinyl floor mats.
Gene
Kestas
Staff member
It's one reason I used to buy Fram oil filters.
In the good old days, pickup trucks were purchased by farmers, contractors, and sportsmen. Now that every suburbanite has a pickup truck they often come fully loaded. I am glad my '95 F150 at least still has hand crank windows and a stick shift. The 2004 F150 doesn't even have a stick shift available. Bummer!
I do like the design/graphics/bottle shape of the Valvoline oils. Also, it is fun to pick up the clear Quaker State bottles and watch the oil slosh around (though I never buy any). Labels printed directly on the bottle (Havoline and Chevron I believe) are really nice compared to the paper labels that get oil soaked and torn.
I am likely on the low end of letting flash influence me. I tend to buy the same old brands as long as I can find them. I shudder with every change of package wondering if they are substituting flash for quality.
''You can only get away with less flash if you are priced well below the market.'' I am likely to take advantage of that too.
Were you being sarcastic about the Fram box? Who would choose that orange, black, and white over a red, white, and blue Delco or Purolator? What about the elegant black and green ST box?
And I am still driving my 77 Chevy LUV with a 4 speed manual, hande crank windows, manual steering, almost no chrome. It came with rubber mats, but does have carpet now. it also has a digital tune radio cassette player.
''You can only get away with less flash if you are priced well below the market.'' I am likely to take advantage of that too.
Were you being sarcastic about the Fram box? Who would choose that orange, black, and white over a red, white, and blue Delco or Purolator? What about the elegant black and green ST box?
And I am still driving my 77 Chevy LUV with a 4 speed manual, hande crank windows, manual steering, almost no chrome. It came with rubber mats, but does have carpet now. it also has a digital tune radio cassette player.
I always liked the bright orange Fram. It stands out on a dull black engine. The grip material on the ends are also a great feature which is very useful in my eyes. Too bad they aren't worth the price. If their quality were to increase to being on par with Motorcraft, Baldwin, Champion and the rest, I probably would go back to Fram.
I like to hide the filter with a black or dark blue colored filter. I really like the metallic blue of the Pure ones though.
I think it's pretty obvious that a flashy label sells, otherwise they would all be plain cheap labels in regular shaped bottles.
Which brings up another point, the fancy bottles. Mobil 1 and Syntec have their chiseled look, Penzoil has their mini-jug, ect. This may be a new method of product distinction.
-T
Pennzoil is the number one selling retail oil brand in the US. Those bright yellow bottles really stand out on the shelf. I'm kind of partial to the bright blue Chevron ones.
The yellow bottles serve an additional purpose. Spread a thin film of oil on the outside of a few bottles and leave them in your garden. The yellow attracts white fly and the oil makes them stick to the bottle. The pick up a few other pests too.
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