go with the gulf (3)

We continue with the third of six vintage Gulf ads discovered in the Warehouse. Commentary by J. Percival Wexford-Snoopington, Ph. D.


Tire inflation was an important part of the service attendant's daily itinerary. No more allowing customers who no prior knowledge of operating an air pump to handle these delicate pieces of machinery. Service attendant fatalities from standing too close to customers who overinflated their tires which promptly exploded declined by 57% after new procedures were introduced in 1927.

However, some station owners came up with their own interpretation of "save you from 20 to 40% on mileage". Long before 70s television journalists uncovered rotten service station practises in Georgia, some operators instructed their pump jockey to overinflate customers' tires just enough so that they'd have a blowout a mile or two down the road, then be forced to return to the station for "repairs", driving up a station's profits by an average of 20-40%. - JB

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