Motor Milk - new boutique?

[thescreensavers]

So LSJ is a Hired Gun now?

It sounds to me they did a VOA with LSJ's Company. Now they are using his name cause his company did the VOA to validate the oil meets its claims

 

[burbguy82]

Hard pass to 30$ a quart.....super hard pass.....in third at 6000rpm kind of pass

 

[Carlostrece]

It just so happens that I'm an IT, SEO, and marketing professional. I would never choose the name Motor Milk for marketing motor oil, but if I was hired after the name was chosen, publicized, and the trainwreck was already underway, I'd try to use humor to salvage the situation and product name.

I'd have beautiful women with big jugs (of oil) hawking the milk to bored or lonely old men who love cars and oil. You know the type. Preferably done in humorous ways so the customers are in on the joke laughing with Motor Milk instead of at it.

It'd also be fun to hawk it to women and millenials in humorous ways so they're in on the joke too. A baby bottle nipple screwed onto on a quart of Motor Milk would be funny. Then a man or woman bottle feeding their car (their car is their baby).

If that sounds ridiculous, it should because it is. However, with a ridiculous name already in play, may as well embrace the humor and go with it. I can easily imagine some folks bottle feeding exotic oils to their cars. I don't think anyone literally does that, but it's funny to imagine. It'd make a funny ad and seems fitting for the name.

It might be good oil, but due to it's name it's unlikely to succeed. That's sad, but with the addition of humor it could be funny in a happy, let's try it kind of way, which might salvage it.

A funny name doesn't work if they try to act serious about it. It might have some (slim) chance if they embraced the humor. The Lakespeed name dropping made me laugh extra.

 

[Carlostrece]

After all this... Someone please try it and report back on it. VOA & UOA please!

 

[rubberchicken]

Carlos- if they embraced your over-the-top marketing campaign, I think it would work. But like you said , they need to go big, or go home.

 

[scrllock]

Their social media pages are covered in posts comparing datasheets, so maybe they've figured out their primary market.
Not clear at all why someone would pay $30/qt for something that sounds like it came out of the bottle with a bad head gasket, but I'm sure this is some rich guy's son's pet startup. Shame that they didn't learn rule #1, start out cheap THEN jack up prices after you gain market share.

 

[Carlostrece]

Their social media pages are covered in posts comparing datasheets, so maybe they've figured out their primary market.
Not clear at all why someone would pay $30/qt for something that sounds like it came out of the bottle with a bad head gasket, but I'm sure this is some rich guy's son's pet startup. Shame that they didn't learn rule #1, start out cheap THEN jack up prices after you gain market share.

I didn't realize that Motor Milk costs $30 a quart. Well then I think there's no way to salvage Motor Milk's marketing. Other than maybe a huge price cut combined with humor.

At $30 a quart, does that make it cost more than HPL?

 

[scrllock]

I didn't realize that Motor Milk costs $30 a quart. Well then I think there's no way to salvage Motor Milk's marketing. Other than maybe a huge price cut combined with humor.

At $30 a quart, does that make it cost more than HPL?

With shipping (flat rate 50 EUR to my address) it comes out to over $35/qt if you buy a 5L jug.

Maybe something like LAT race oils approach that pricing, but HPL isn't even that expensive. Torco SR-5R maybe? Not many oils above $24/qt.

 

[goblin]

A good 60% of this is probably shipping, I can't imagine them having US stocks

 

[chris719]

I was at the Nurburgring last week and passed by their "pop-up store" but it's actually not a pop-up that I could tell, it's just Seb's Garage location, a Youtuber I think. I would have stopped in to say hello but it was late, cold, and rainy. It's in a residential location it seemed like, cool little area.

 

[Carlostrece]

Nurburgring? Is that the name of a USA hamburger fastfood restaurant or perhaps a town in Germany?

Edited in a few minutes later: Google says it's an oval (ring) shaped car race track near Nurburg Germany. So Motor Milk is German?

How do you say "Motor Milk" in German?

 

[ChristianReske]

Motor (Almost the same as in English) - Milch.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

No matter how good it is, I'm pretty sure the name Motor Milk is responsible for me never buying it..

View attachment 302230

There is a simple "Pun intended here" .....
So as quite a few have joked and said in the recent past, "come on man! you could not even make the hair color match the bottle?! Come on now, lets get with it and some creative marketing at least!"

 

[scrllock]

I was at the Nurburgring last week and passed by their "pop-up store" but it's actually not a pop-up that I could tell, it's just Seb's Garage location, a Youtuber I think. I would have stopped in to say hello but it was late, cold, and rainy. It's in a residential location it seemed like, cool little area.

influencer oil, what could taste better!

 

[Carlostrece]

Motor (Almost the same as in English) - Milch.

Ironically, if it was called/spelled Xw-XX "Motor Milch Oil" or Xw-XX "Moto Milch Oil" and marketed that way in USA, most Americans wouldn't know what milch means. We'd just think it was an exotic sounding Euro oil and therefore assume it's probably an excellent, desireable oil.

I think the only thing the German influencer needs to do to positively influence most Americans is use the German version of the word(s) so we don't understand what the name means. I'd have fallen for that, but I wouldn't swallow the price.

Of course Germans speakers would still understand the name when it's in German. So selling it in Germany and Austria might still be a problem.

 

[Motor Milk]

Hey everyone,

We honestly didn’t know this forum existed here in Europe. So first of all, thank you for taking the time to discuss our brand and share your thoughts (even the sceptical ones). It’s clear that many of you care deeply about oil chemistry and engine protection, and that’s precisely the kind of passion that drives us, too.

Let me address a few of the points that came up:

@goblin — fantastic insights and research, imposing work on tracing the refinery!
There’s actually a funny story behind that. When we first set out to produce these oils, no European refinery wanted to work with us. I personally visited several facilities, and most of them told me there was “no market anymore” for high-ester, high-PAO, high-ZDDP formulations.

That was precisely the gap we wanted to fill; to bring back authentic, performance-focused racing formulations that had largely disappeared from the European market.

We purchase our own base oils and create our own proprietary blends. The refinery we work with is under contract not to produce these blends for anyone else, so there’s no private labelling; what you get is genuinely unique to us.

@Carlostrece — yes, the name “Motor Milk” often raises a smile!
It actually came from the dairy cows grazing around the Nürburgring, where we spent countless hours testing engines as enthusiasts (even before our motor oil journey). The idea was both literal and symbolic, to feed engines something pure and rich again.

We’re not a big corporate brand (and we don’t have the budget to act like one). We’re simply a small, passionate group trying to build something meaningful, one step at a time. Although your marketing suggestion is fantastic, we don’t have the budget to “go big” like that, I hope it won’t mean we’ll have to “go home.”

@scrllock — definitely not “some rich guy’s son’s pet startup.”
I recently finished my nearly 5-year PhD studies, my father’s on social benefits, and our small team is made up of racers and engineers with laboratory backgrounds. We started blending oils for our own track cars, and that grew into a mission to bring back authentic, high-quality lubricants for others who value them as much as we do. We are also by no means influencers. Sure, we publish here and there; in today’s day and age, this is common for our generation, but we certainly don’t have any influence. We wish!

We completely understand the scepticism; it’s healthy, and it keeps everyone honest. Please know that we’re not here to sell hype or marketing fluff. We’re here because we genuinely felt there was a void in the European market for traditional, performance-oriented oils (like you guys do great in America, BTW!)

With ever-tightening emissions regulations, additive levels (such as ZDDP and phosphorus) have been heavily restricted in Europe. We’re walking that fine line between authentic performance and road-legal compliance, so while we can’t go completely wild with our formulations, we’re trying to bring back as much of that “old-school” chemistry as possible.

We’ve always admired Red Line and other American brands that stuck to their roots. What we’re doing is something similar, but adapted to the European landscape, sourcing base oils from Petronas, Eni, and S-Oil, and blending with transparency and purpose.

We truly appreciate all your feedback, as it keeps us accountable and motivates us to improve continually. If anyone here would like to test our oils and share an honest, independent review, we’d be happy to send out a free sample. You can email us directly anytime.

And yes, we hear you about the prices! Unfortunately, European base oil and ester costs are significantly higher than in the U.S., especially for the Petronas-grade esters we use. Still, we’ll continue to explore ways to make our products more accessible without compromising quality.

Thank you again for the discussion, your curiosity, and even your criticism. It’s precisely this kind of exchange that helps small, independent teams like ours get better, and we’re grateful for it. Some of the comments made us a little sad, but it was an honour to get noticed (and grilled) by some of you veterans across the pond. We look up to you & hope you’ll support our journey. Please engage with us on Facebook (@motormilkracing) and/or Instagram (@motormilkofficial) for a faster response from our side!

We’ve already corrected the typo on the Porsche A40 spec (good catch!).

Warm regards,

Seb & Maximilian @ Motor Milk™

 

[strgsix]

I actually came across this thread while researching Motor Milk — I’ve been looking to try something new and different from the usual Motul or Ravenol options we see here in Germany.

First of all, I really appreciate the transparency shown here by @Motor Milk . That kind of openness isn’t something you see often, so respect for that.

What I’m wondering though: aside from the price (which, in my opinion, is fair for a small independent company) and the branding (which I actually find quite cool and memorable) - what exactly do you guys find bad about it?

Motul and Castrol, for example, are multi-million or even billion-euro corporations. Castrol alone has a market worth of around 200 billion euros. Why do we automatically trust them more — just because they’re big and have been around longer?

For me, it’s the tests and results that matter at the end of the day — how the oil performs and what the data shows.

 

[GW.]

Hey everyone,

We honestly didn’t know this forum existed here in Europe. So first of all, thank you for taking the time to discuss our brand and share your thoughts (even the sceptical ones). It’s clear that many of you care deeply about oil chemistry and engine protection, and that’s precisely the kind of passion that drives us, too.

Let me address a few of the points that came up:

@goblin — fantastic insights and research, imposing work on tracing the refinery!
There’s actually a funny story behind that. When we first set out to produce these oils, no European refinery wanted to work with us. I personally visited several facilities, and most of them told me there was “no market anymore” for high-ester, high-PAO, high-ZDDP formulations.

That was precisely the gap we wanted to fill; to bring back authentic, performance-focused racing formulations that had largely disappeared from the European market.

We purchase our own base oils and create our own proprietary blends. The refinery we work with is under contract not to produce these blends for anyone else, so there’s no private labelling; what you get is genuinely unique to us.

@Carlostrece — yes, the name “Motor Milk” often raises a smile!
It actually came from the dairy cows grazing around the Nürburgring, where we spent countless hours testing engines as enthusiasts (even before our motor oil journey). The idea was both literal and symbolic, to feed engines something pure and rich again.

We’re not a big corporate brand (and we don’t have the budget to act like one). We’re simply a small, passionate group trying to build something meaningful, one step at a time. Although your marketing suggestion is fantastic, we don’t have the budget to “go big” like that, I hope it won’t mean we’ll have to “go home.”

@scrllock — definitely not “some rich guy’s son’s pet startup.”
I recently finished my nearly 5-year PhD studies, my father’s on social benefits, and our small team is made up of racers and engineers with laboratory backgrounds. We started blending oils for our own track cars, and that grew into a mission to bring back authentic, high-quality lubricants for others who value them as much as we do. We are also by no means influencers. Sure, we publish here and there; in today’s day and age, this is common for our generation, but we certainly don’t have any influence. We wish!

We completely understand the scepticism; it’s healthy, and it keeps everyone honest. Please know that we’re not here to sell hype or marketing fluff. We’re here because we genuinely felt there was a void in the European market for traditional, performance-oriented oils (like you guys do great in America, BTW!)

With ever-tightening emissions regulations, additive levels (such as ZDDP and phosphorus) have been heavily restricted in Europe. We’re walking that fine line between authentic performance and road-legal compliance, so while we can’t go completely wild with our formulations, we’re trying to bring back as much of that “old-school” chemistry as possible.

We’ve always admired Red Line and other American brands that stuck to their roots. What we’re doing is something similar, but adapted to the European landscape, sourcing base oils from Petronas, Eni, and S-Oil, and blending with transparency and purpose.

We truly appreciate all your feedback, as it keeps us accountable and motivates us to improve continually. If anyone here would like to test our oils and share an honest, independent review, we’d be happy to send out a free sample. You can email us directly anytime.

And yes, we hear you about the prices! Unfortunately, European base oil and ester costs are significantly higher than in the U.S., especially for the Petronas-grade esters we use. Still, we’ll continue to explore ways to make our products more accessible without compromising quality.

Thank you again for the discussion, your curiosity, and even your criticism. It’s precisely this kind of exchange that helps small, independent teams like ours get better, and we’re grateful for it. Some of the comments made us a little sad, but it was an honour to get noticed (and grilled) by some of you veterans across the pond. We look up to you & hope you’ll support our journey. Please engage with us on Facebook (@motormilkracing) and/or Instagram (@motormilkofficial) for a faster response from our side!

We’ve already corrected the typo on the Porsche A40 spec (good catch!).

Warm regards,

Seb & Maximilian @ Motor Milk™

Thank you for responding! I also prefer the “old school” performance based formulas utilizing PAO and Ester.

One thing BITOG really likes is transparency from a blender!

What percentage of PAO and Esters are you guys using?

Any other base oils like GTL(group 3) or AN’s being used?

Thanks again

 

[4wd]

When I saw this, I gave up:

PERFORMANCE LEVELS AND APPROVALS:

API SM/CF ACEA A3/B4 MB 229.3/229.5/229.1 BMW LL 01 VW 500.00/502.00/505.00/505.01 PORSCHE A40

"Phosphorus content, ppm ASTM D 5185 = 1550 "

Yep. Which is which is on you, LoL

 

[4wd]

I mean, it could be, but him handing out "Lakespeed Stars" like he's the motor oil version of Gordon Ramsey just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Yeah, it’s like 2% - not the whole taste