09/29/2007 01:27:56 PM 
It's big, bold and epic and the purpose is to educate, inspire and try its hardest to improve the negative perception of the oil business.
Of course, the ad tries hard to be real and genuine by employing the talents of Lance Accord and a voice-over from Campbell Scott. The result is a somewhat restrained flashback to the glory days of big corporate advertising in the mid 1980s. You can't help but feel the production dollars that were thrown into this as the multiple locations fly across the screen.
You are left with the feeling that this is a company that wants to create the impression that it wants to have a conversation, but by the looks of things you can tell its going to be very one sided. The kind of conversation where you can't get a word in.
Despite all the good intentions of the campaign, you get the message that a big oil company has created the longest and perhaps the most expensive ad ever created on American television.
It's brave of Chevron to start this tough conversation and get the ball rolling, but you can't help feeling that this could have gone much further.
This is evident because the campaign uses an old web site , complete with "token forum" that's difficult to navigate and contribute to. When you read the small print it becomes clear..
"One a topic is closed, you will be able to view all of the previous comments, but no longer be able to submit new ones. We will then have an independent organization review all of the published comments and summarize their findings, which we will post on this site within 60-90 days."
Net- We will publish a report
This isn't good enough, Chevron needs to act and do something not publish a report and let it gather dust.
It needs to start and maintain a real conversation that isn't token, but is dynamic, real and acted upon.
Where are the Chevron employee pages on Facebook?
Where are the and the hundreds of Chevron employee blogs?
Where is the the pitch to the world for ideas and open innovation?
Reading between the lines, you can't help feeling that Big Oil wants to educate us.
Sure, there's a very important job to be done, but if you want to win the battle of hearts and minds, you've got to get down off your high horse and out into the streets.
You've got to create real, vibrant communities on the internet and you've got to respond in a tangible way to those voices in the community.
Educate doesn't mean dominate.
Big Oil needs to find a way to show us its humanity.
Perhaps before it does this, it should go back to the classroom itself and read up on what Procter&Gamble, Sun and Dell have been up to recently and learn how to reach out and invite the outside in.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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