Texaco as social enterprise

National Geographic Magazine, originally uploaded by Jasperdo.

The ad above is from the October 1923 National Geographic. Note the theme, linking a fueled engine with clear air.

Cynical manipulation?

Nope. Back in the day, internal combustion engines were a means of *cleaning* the air from noxious pollution--the pollution that arose of horse manure. Your average urban environment was not only choking on the stench; people breathed in harmful particles released into the air by vehicles treading over manure. They also tracked sh*t into the house on their shoes.

The car promised to bring the countryside into the city. Instead of leaving behind a tangible reminder of its presence, its only by-product was a mostly invisible vapor that wafted harmlessly into the clouds.

Or so it seemed . . .

It's easy to mock with the benefit of hindsight, but there's a lesson here for the modern sustainability movement. Green on the front-end does not necessarily mean green at every level. A key question to ask of every eco-friendly product: what are the harmful effects we don't see?