Oil Brand Marketing, Perception and Reputation

[celicaxx]

I think the only times I fell for marketing with oil was when I was a teenager reading a lot of Import Tuner and Super Street and stuff like that. They did a marketing/PR piece for Eneos oils and since then I've really wanted to use some. My local NAPA had some Eneos 0w50 API SM on sale for only $3 a quart last year and I'm still kicking myself for passing it up. Just because Eneos was JDM cool and they had a contest where they guaranteed you'd gain power on a dyno or your oil and dyno pull was free at an import event.

Other time I fell for teenage marketing was reading said Import Tuner/Super Street, where an article endorsed 0W oils for daily drivers and fuel efficiency savings. Next oil change my mom's Taurus got Mobil 1 0w20 and it was pretty cool.

Lastly, I think I tried Castrol, Pennzoil, and Quaker State in my mom's car back then as a teenager, just wanting to try new oils, and my dad said I was basically an idiot as those oils all sucked in 1975.

So nowadays my oil choices are somewhat on the lower end as I can read data sheets and approvals, but I have to kind of wonder if on some level things like Supertech are "marketed" on here by shills, too. This gets into the FRAM orange can of death debate that's apparently taboo here but I believe I had a FRAM filter failure/clog on my first Celica Supra, and then read online about filters and since then I've never used FRAM again except the cartridge on my Fusion, and have always used NAPA Gold and Motorcraft filters as those were considered the best filters 10 years ago. So while it's not marketing, it's me doing something based on what other people said/possibly shilled on the internet. I notice with the price, too, NAPA Gold and FRAM used to be much more near each other, now NAPA Gold is generally significantly more expensive than FRAM, in large part maybe due to more demand.

 

[Bill_W]

I fell for ARCOgraphite when it first came out.

 

[Ohio91]

How do different brands' marketing influence your perception of that oil? What are some perceptions you've heard over the years that for better or worse were influenced by their marketing or reputation?

For example, I once heard an old-timer swear he'd never use Pennzoil because that was what a buddy was using when his engine broke down. And something about the paraffin solidifying in the engine.

Another example, Mobil 1 bottle marketing gives the impression of highly professional oil, while Quaker State marketing can look like an "old timer's" oil. Super Tech marketing looks decidedly off-brand, while Castrol marketing seems to be catered to a younger crowd, etc.

What are your own personal perceptions, based on either experience, stories, or how the bottle looks?

Nope I don’t care what color the package is, what it claims, or what they say it will do. I go with the cheapest brand that meets the spec for my engine and follow my manufacture oil change intervals. Mostly doing services early

 

[CheezWhiz]

i still brush my teeth with Slick 50.

 

[4WD]

I do support “claims” - it is something that is a given around here on oil filters - but gets mocked on motor oil. When the “detective” side of us look at the SDS - we tend to see good base stocks in longer range lubes …

I am also skeptical of Kirkland et al being full synthetic - Warren buys EHC and working the margins they are in - and how liberal the label is in USA marketing - that’s where I am …
It was looking like the ST longer range was going for the gold - then they priced it like it was …
All in - I see majors and boutiques doing more in terms of science & progress and others just blend by recipe

 

[thunderfog]

Not really relevant, but 30 years ago, I liked the Castrol GTX commercials where they would tell you how their oil would protect against viscosity and thermal breakdown while watching pistons/cylinders over speed/overheat.

 

[PimTac]

Not really relevant, but 30 years ago, I liked the Castrol GTX commercials where they would tell you how their oil would protect against viscosity and thermal breakdown while watching pistons/cylinders over speed/overheat.

That was back when 4 cylinder engines were starting to become mainstream. Coupled with a three, four or five speed transmission they did run at high rpm’s on the highway.

 

[Zaedock]

I fell for ARCOgraphite when it first came out.

I fell for him when he joined BITOG.

@ARCOgraphite

 

[ka9mnx]

If I look good carrying the jug out of the store- that's my oil.

I try to hide, from public view, when checking out with my SuperTech jugs.

 

[JWB]

I use Kendall because they don't market as much. They focus on shop owners and Mecum Auctions. Over 150 years of making oil and greases and never seen or heard of an issue. Also like the fact Phillip 66 like Mobil and Shell Have their own base oil and work with OEMs.

 

[sopususer]

When I was a teenager the Castrol GTX commercials of protection against thermal breakdown sucked me in. Ran a 1988 Ford Ranger 2.9 V6 exclusively on that oil. Looking back that was probably the dirtiest 3K oci engine I've ever seen. As my site name implies I'm basically a SOPUS guy now who typically uses QSFS (due to pricing). Occasionally I will run NAPA/Valvoline Syn or Castrol Magnatec. However, marketing turned my thinking generally against Castrol products. The whole "thinking with your dipstick" campaign a few years ago was so stupid I cringe when I think about it. That slogan is permanently tied to Castrol products in my mind. Tough for BP to overcome their marketing for me.

 

[tdi jerry]

For years i was a long time Mobil 1 user but changed to AMSOIL about a month ago. The AMSOIL has better specs than the Mobil 1 EP that i was using.

 

[BigCahuna]

I still get the impression or feeling that Castrol oils are marketed to the old-fashioned, ‘thicker is better’ crowd.
Their oils have always boasted about protecting against viscosity breakdown, and their oils have always seemed to have higher ccs values, and are not as good at cold starts.
I’m pretty sure this is somewhat accurate - their ccs values are higher in tests we have seen; they test a little higher in cst @100 degree measurements. Also, I think GTX 20W-50 overall is probably one of their best selling grades still.
Anecdotally, I’ve had an engine lock up completely at -30C with GTX 10W-30 in it. Yes, I was at the mrv limit for that grade, but we have heard many stories about cars starting, unhappily, at around -30 with some form of 10W-30 or 10W-40 in them.

I can relate somewhat to what you wrote. Many years ago, I took a trip up to Oneida NY in the winter to visit some people. I had an old phone company van with a 6 cyl in it. Over night the temp dropped to -35f. I went out the next day to see if it would start. Nothing but a tick. It had to warm UP to 0 F, before the engine would turn over and start. I don't remember what wt oil I was using at the time, but I would guess 10w40. being it was in the mid '70's.,,,

 

[nascarnation]

Back in the late 60s, one of my fraternity brothers used to get D-A Lubricants oil from Indianapolis and re-sell it. When he came up to Michigan he'd have a trunk full of cardboard boxes of the old style round quart cans of oil. (He never revealed "how" he was obtaining all this oil, LOL). IIRC it was 20 cents a quart.

 

[wpod]

For years i was a long time Mobil 1 user but changed to AMSOIL about a month ago. The AMSOIL has better specs than the Mobil 1 EP that i was using.

I have not seen the differences in engine life of a properly maintained vehicle benefit from a boutique oil vs a quality oil from the majors. Maybe in the 1970s there were benefits. But most engines out last the chassis they are put in.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

When I was a teenager the Castrol GTX commercials of protection against thermal breakdown sucked me in. Ran a 1988 Ford Ranger 2.9 V6 exclusively on that oil. Looking back that was probably the dirtiest 3K oci engine I've ever seen. As my site name implies I'm basically a SOPUS guy now who typically uses QSFS (due to pricing). Occasionally I will run NAPA/Valvoline Syn or Castrol Magnatec. However, marketing turned my thinking generally against Castrol products. The whole "thinking with your dipstick" campaign a few years ago was so stupid I cringe when I think about it. That slogan is permanently tied to Castrol products in my mind. Tough for BP to overcome their marketing for me.

That "thinking with you dipstick" campaign ranks up their with the worst oil marketing ideas of all time. Castrol marketing/branding has always been among the worst, IMO.

 

[chemman]

Trooper Tested Havoline

 

[ZedzAmg]

I use Motul, not out of marketing just word of mouth. My engine builder recommended it back in 2015. I use whatever flavor meets the certs I need.

 

[WobblyElvis]

How do different brands' marketing influence your perception of that oil? What are some perceptions you've heard over the years that for better or worse were influenced by their marketing or reputation?

For example, I once heard an old-timer swear he'd never use Pennzoil because that was what a buddy was using when his engine broke down. And something about the paraffin solidifying in the engine.

Another example, Mobil 1 bottle marketing gives the impression of highly professional oil, while Quaker State marketing can look like an "old timer's" oil. Super Tech marketing looks decidedly off-brand, while Castrol marketing seems to be catered to a younger crowd, etc.

What are your own personal perceptions, based on either experience, stories, or how the bottle looks?

I try to be as logical as possible and remove advertising from the equation when I buy oil, but I can't totally do it. The fact is advertising works or it wouldn't be the huge industry it is. If I go to buy oil and there are two jugs meeting the same spec for the same price, I will buy the jug that is a brand name over a store brand. Some how this makes me feel I am getting a better deal. Ask anyone who has taken a business management course and they will tell you the only sure way to increase sales is not to improve the product but to increase the advertising budget.

 

[kschachn]

I am a skeptic on marketing and on internet sites suspect shill salesmen. Once I suspect a salesman that kinda sours me on a product. Some things are too good to be true. But regardless information can really help. What did sell me was to stay on the formula that the car manufacturer‘s oil started with. (Mazda moly) That is what I did and disregarded the high Noack cause the moly was high. More thinking on that Noack seems the base oil is not uniform. And the moly is compensation. As silly as it sounds what sold me on PUP is the Project Farm oil shootout. The cold flow test showed PUP second behind Amsoil SS.

That’s why the approvals, specifications and licenses the oil holds (or does not hold) are critical and eliminate the often uneducated worry over typical values on a PDS which are not “specs”.

Also those “cold flow” videos, are they more representative of what is actually relevant to engine starting and operation than the series of tests in SAE J300 that result in the winter rating?