Brand identity and brand loyalty is essential for businesses to survive and succeed in their respective industries. Restaurants, clothing, gas stations, and technology all hope to thrive on their brand or trademark to keep ahead of the competition. Any one of us could effortlessly name a handful of symbols or trademarks that represent a particular company. There are even board games and phone apps that one could download to identify logos.
The petroleum industry has had a long history of easily identified logos or brands. For example, driving down the road or highway and a company’s billboard or neon sign will tell you where to locate their branded gasoline.
By definition, icons are “widely known symbols.” The petroleum industry has many icons that can be found throughout the US. Here are two very familiar icons recognizable to many in the US, particularly in the Midwest.
Golden Driller
Pennwell Publishing Co., the parent company of Oil & Gas Journal, is headquartered in Tulsa. Tulsa was once known as the “Oil Capital of the World” and has an enormous character known as the Golden Driller. This giant roughneck standing 76 ft tall has been the most photographic landmark in Tulsa since his first appearance at the 1953 International Petroleum Exposition. Originally a temporary statue for visitors and exhibitors of IPE in 1953, he was erected again for the 1959 show. Due to his popularity, Mid-Continent Supply of Fort Worth donated his impressive stature, and while it endured numerous makeovers, it became a permanent fixture in Tulsa in 1966.
The statue can still be seen at the Tulsa County Fairgrounds where his right hand rests upon an old derrick that was moved from an oil field in Seminole, Okla. That derrick has its own petroleum legacy too. Golden Driller has experienced Tulsa’s oil booms and busts, but it also has endured the test of time by surviving vandalism, shotgun blasts, and severe tornadic weather. Golden Driller even has a social media page and celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. An engraved plaque at the base of the statue states, “The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God’s abundance a better life for mankind.”
The High-Flying Pegasus
Similar to Tulsa’s legendary Golden Driller, Dallas has their famous petroleum icon: the High-Flying Pegasus. Mobil Oil Co.’s trademark of the red flying Pegasus has been a feature of the famous Dallas skyline since 1934. The history of this icon dates to 1911 when a subsidiary company of Vacuum Oil Co. trademarked the flying red horse’s logo. By 1931, Vacuum Oil had a thriving petroleum lubricant business derived from the success of the expanding automobile industry. One successful product was named Mobilgas, streamlined later to Mobil. Once Vacuum and Standard Oil Co. of New York (Socony) combined entities, along with affiliate Magnolia Petroleum, the newly formed company adopted the Pegasus as their trademark.
The 35 ft by 40 ft red neon glow of the rotating Pegasus stood atop the newly built Magnolia Petroleum building for the 1934 first annual meeting of the American Petroleum Institute. During all of the mergers and ownership changes of Socony-Vacuum, the emblem stood tall over the city of Dallas. The rotating Pegasus came to a standstill in 1974 when the motor commenced working. Three years later, Mobil sold the Magnolia building and the bright red neon symbol to the city of Dallas. Corporate sponsors raised money to bring the flying horse back to life in 1999 for the people of Dallas to remember their petroleum heritage. In 2015, the restored Pegasus sign was perched high over the Omni Dallas Hotel.
