That Petrol Emotion – Nostalgia Central

Petrol rationing in Britain during the Second World War meant that private motoring virtually disappeared.

When rationing ceased in 1951, fuel companies began a battle to gain a healthy share of the growing market and develop lasting customer loyalty with brand advertising and promotional giveaways.

There had been considerable progress in petrol technology and engine design during the War, so higher grades of petrol were now available to supplement the basic offerings. Esso, for instance, offered Esso Extra and Esso Golden.

Postwar engines benefited from additives (especially lead), but there was little technical promotion involving compression ratios, timing and octane ratings to help motorists make more informed choices.

Car ownership was a source of pride and status, and owners were keen to buy the best fuel. The petrol companies appealed to this, and motorists often bought the brand and grade they were convinced would benefit their cars.

Cheap petrol was viewed with suspicion, and all the leading brands were at the same price, thanks to retail price maintenance, under which producers fixed the prices of their branded products.

Motoring holidays and day trips were encouraged by the fuel companies. They provided cheap maps of Britain (the Esso series cost 6d each) while Shell produced its “Guide to…” series.

The new commercial television was an ideal medium for advertising petrol. Images of smiling faces, open roads and trouble-free motoring were underpinned by memorable advertising jingles.

Modern high-compression engines required a higher-octane grade of petrol, and this was simplified by the introduction of a star system: 2-star 87 octane; 3-star 93 octane; 4-star 98 octane; and 5-star 100 octane.

The star system provided a comparison, but all petrol with the same number of stars was essentially identical, regardless of brand. This prompted the petrol companies to change their advertising.

Esso claimed that using their petrol was like having “A tiger in your tank” and produced stickers that were supplemented with giveaway tiger tails that dangled from filler caps.

Esso pumps had illuminated tigers’ heads on top, the hoses covered in tiger stripes.

National Benzole dubbed their customers “getaway people”. Television adverts showed impossibly attractive couples in status sports cars on empty roads in an exotic landscape, racing light aircraft and thoroughbred horses.

Regent petrol trod a different path with “Ride Regent, the lively one”. A shapely girl in a Stetson, T-shirt and jeans, held the pump nozzle like a handgun. With Regent petrol, you could “get out of town fast”.

Shell went in a different direction with its ‘Make Money’ game. Shell customers received half a promotional bank note. Matching two halves won the player the sum on the note.

Top prizes were sufficiently worthwhile for holders of a high denomination half to advertise in newspaper personal columns for a matching half.

Another promotional technique was to offer collectables to keep customers coming back. There were sets of coins and medals associated with the World Cup or Olympic Games, or vouchers for glassware, cutlery and ceramic ware.

Only a few visits were needed to acquire the necessary number.

Towards the end of the 1960s, fuel retailers began to offer trading stamps. They had already proved to be a popular and effective way of securing customer loyalty on the High Street, and now petrol retailers added a twist by incentivising larger petrol purchases.

Double, treble or quadruple stamps were offered on purchases of four gallons or more. This was a valuable perk to company car drivers and others responsible for refuelling vans and lorries.

Established in 1958, Green Shield Stamps emerged as the leading brand, and petrol stations began issuing them from the late 1960s.

High inflation in the 1970s was a body blow, and instead of offering stamps, retailers now used the savings to discount prices. They began to disappear from petrol stations in 1977, Green Shield rebranded its redemption centres as Argos warehouses, and the stamps were finally withdrawn in 1991.

Promotions and incentives benefited the larger, better-placed stations that could also cut costs and invest in self-service pumps. (At larger outlets, petrol pump attendants disappeared during the 1970s). Lacking the space and resources, smaller outlets began to decline.

Larger outlets also benefited from the end of retail price maintenance in the early 1970s. Buying in bulk at a discount allowed them to offer branded fuel at bargain prices. For the first time, large signs displayed petrol prices.

The 1973 Arab-Israeli war caused a petrol crisis. Ration books were issued as a precaution, and desperate motorists formed long queues to fill up. Prices spiralled, with the price of a gallon of 4-star petrol going from 39.7p to 128.5p between 1973 and 1980.

As petrol prices tripled over seven years, motorists began buying fuel by price, and all outlets began displaying their prices prominently.

The larger outlets, in their turn, faced the challenge of the supermarkets during the 1980s.

In the 1950s and 1960s, supermarkets used basic commodities such as tea, sugar and butter as loss leaders to attract shoppers. Now they used discounted petrol to encourage customers. Purchases over a certain amount were rewarded with 5p-a-litre-off vouchers.

These days, as fuel prices ebb and flow, there are regular petrol price wars between supermarkets.

Elements of this article were first published in Best of British in November 2017. © Derek Lamb.