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In a 1963 Caltex print ad, a signpost pointed the way to five destinations from Nairobi to New Delhi. The headline read, “You’re never far from the CALTEX Star…serving the petroleum needs of more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.” The simple message: Caltex is a global company with wide experience in serving people wherever they live.
 Over the years, Caltex has incorporated this message into many advertising campaigns, often on behalf of its service station network (“a welcome beacon that invites the weary motorist to pause”), its marine business (“Every hour of the day, hard-working Caltex tankers plow the seas, servicing a marketing area spanning half the globe”) or its aviation fuels (“SPEED…SPACE…AND CALTEX”)
In the mid 1970s, Caltex ran an ad campaign playing up the attributes of countries where it had operations – such as New Zealand, “a great country with a great Caltex tradition,” and Kenya, “land of green hills and traditional Caltex service.” The brief historical narrative contained interesting facts about the country before segueing to Caltex’s business ties to each nation.
Another related message stressed the company’s multicultural employee base. A 1974 ad read: “As a responsible petroleum marketer doing business in three continents flying over 60 different flags, Caltex has thrived under a simple yet sensible corporate policy…The core of this policy is to employ, train, and advance citizens of each and every country where the Caltex Star shines.” As the text indicated, this wasn’t merely policy but practice: “96.5% of the people who work in local Caltex offices, refineries, laboratories, and terminals are citizens in good standing of that particular country…”
Caltex has devoted many of its advertising campaigns to selling products. When the company launched Boron fuel in Belgium in 1964, print ads showed a comic cartoon figure at the wheel of a car and later driving a motorcycle while the text promised “with BORON you can travel the world over without trouble.” Two years later, for the introduction of Astron fuel in Australia, print ads showed a woman on the beach and explained that she was able to spend time sporting her tan because “Caltex Astron saves you money by keeping your engine clean and protected.”
When Caltex launched CX3 gasoline in South Africa in 1973, a ground-breaking ad campaign effectively demonstrated that the petrol customers paid for burnt in the combustion chamber instead of being blown out of the exhaust. This resulted in a reduction in unburnt hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide levels in exhaust emissions. A television commercial made the point by showing the exhaust emission from a car running on an inferior fuel being used to light a burner and fry an egg. Another commercial showed how a small scooter could be powered by the exhaust emissions of a car not using CX3. Customers got the message and helped to make CX3 the number one fuel brand in South Africa for the next two decades.
A series that ran in the early 1980s used the recurring theme: “Caltex helps you run your business better.” One ad showed a close-up of a bridge and read: “Soaring spans of structural steel require tough, nonstop protection against the weather and water that promote rust buildup. Right reason for using Caltex Texacoat.” Another, in support of Caltex’s petrochemicals business, showed hundreds of lipsticks under the heading of “Beauty” and began: “Lips blush better, skin stays softer, and hair keeps manageable thanks to quality cosmetics formulated with Caltex White Oil Pharma.” Dramatic photographs combined with single-word headlines and inviting text to give this campaign its appeal.
 The company adopted a similar graphic approach in its 1978 conservation campaign devoted to energy-saving facts. In one, a single drop of water dripped from a faucet, while the copy read: “FACT: Take one hot water tap, leaking four litres of water per day, and multiply this loss by 1,000,000 homes. The energy waste: a staggering 15,300,000 litres of fuel per year.” Below the Caltex logo was the key message: “Saving energy. You’re concerned. We’re concerned.”
In a different stylistic approach, Caltex used long, catchy headlines and appealing illustrations in a series of 1970s and 1980s ads on its wide range of sponsorships. “Arias, arabesques, or a Chopin nocturne: the performing arts thrive under CALTEX soil” read one ad that ranged from Caltex-sponsored opera in Sydney to a piano recital in Hong Kong. And when Caltex sponsored a programme to save endangered species in Africa, the advertising copy began: “In Kenya, the rare white Rhino can hope for survival thanks to a farseeing government and a CALTEX lending hand.”
Until 2001, Caltex’s ad campaigns all were produced for local or regional markets. That year, Caltex ran its first-ever global print and television advertising campaign to speak directly to its millions of consumers with “What Drives You” as its headline. Written in simple, direct language, it described the “long road” on which more than 6 billion people travel “toward different goals, dreams and ambitions.” Along this road stands the friendly Caltex star. “A symbol that means high quality fuels and oil, quick and friendly service and even that much needed snack…A place where they’ll be treated as people and not as profit margins.”
Just as earlier ads spoke of Caltex’s service to people, regardless of which fork they took on life’s road, these current messages attest to this same enduring commitment.
To know more about Caltex advertising and promotional activities, visit your country website.
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