Esso Bee

The longtime unofficial mascot of the Standard Oil company and its agents; part of a branding initiative which contained the red-on-white "Esso" brand in a blue oval, next to which was posed a yellow-on-white honeybee carrying a petrol jerrycan instead of a jar of honey. The local filling stations issued snappy uniforms with the attendant's name next to the logo of the Esso Bee. The promotion immediately caught the imagination of the motoring public, who affectionately referred to all of the folks working for Mr. Rockefeller as the local "Esso Bees" - a moniker which the company embraced with pride.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. The ownership of the Standard Oil and Esso marks is as fragmented today as the ownership of the Bell System logos became after the 1982 court-ordered AT&T breakup and for much the same reasons -- both companies had structured themselves as multiple businesses in each state (such as "Standard Oil of New Jersey") and the individual components being sold apart only brought confusion and chaos.

America, terrorised by the Arab oil embargo, saw widespread shortages and skyrocketing prices. Esso was rebranded as Exxon and the mascot changed to a tiger driving an Abrams battle tank across the Iraqi desert with the tagline "put a tiger in your tank!" Full serve was displaced by self-serve and the service bays which used to dispense free air for your tyres replaced with overpriced "convenience" stores with little of value to offer. Service went down, prices went up.

The old-timers were not amused. They'd pull up to the pumps, become visibly upset and ask "Where are the Esso Bees who are supposed to be running this company?"

Disenchanted motorists had come to expect that there's always one Esso Bee in every swarm.