The Union Oil Company of California (later known as Unocal) introduced the Union 76 brand to their existing Union Oil service stations in 1932.[3] After expanding along the West Coast, the Union 76 brand expanded to the Midwest and Southeast through the acquisition of Pure Oil in 1965.[4]
In 1989, Unocal began to gradually exit the Midwest and Eastern markets by forming a joint venture with PDVSA, called Uno-Ven, in which Unocal contributed its Midwest refining and marketing assets.[5] Unocal sold its interest in Uno-Ven to PDVSA in 1997 and PDVSA rebranded the Midwestern and Eastern Union 76 stations to its Citgo brand.[6]
In 1997, Unocal also sold its remaining refining and marketing operations in the western United States and the rights to the Union 76 brand for use in refining and marketing operations to Tosco.[7] Four years later, Phillips Petroleum purchased Tosco along with the 76 brand in 2001.[8] Phillips merged with Conoco the following year to form ConocoPhillips.[9]
In 2012, ConocoPhillips divested its refining and marketing business, which included the 76 brand, through the formation of Phillips 66.[9]
In 2016, Saudi Aramco-owned Motiva Enterprises signed a deal with Phillips 66 Company which would allow Motiva to use the 76 brand on some of its stations in its 26 eastern and Gulf Coast states operating territory.[10] By 2017, the 76 brand was reintroduced into New York, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and New Jersey.[11]
Marketing
76, Conoco, and Phillips 66 market their brand of gasoline under the brand name PROclean. The previous brand name for their gasoline was Propower.[citation needed] 76 gasoline stopped being marketed under the Propower name after the termination of the commercial relationship between NASCAR and 76 after the end of the 2003 season, when the firm discontinued all motorsport fuels.[citation needed] As of October 2004, PROclean brand fuel was included on the list of fuels recognized as "Top Tier".[12]
In the 1970s and 1980s, the company used the slogan "Go With the Spirit...the Spirit of '76." This was later shortened to "Get the Spirit".[citation needed] Their current (as of late 2021) slogan is “We’re on the driver’s side”.
76 signs are orange balls with a 76 legend in blue. During the 1960s and '70s, most stations had the 76 ball rotate when the signs were illuminated.[citation needed] The first such sign was designed in 1962 by advertising creative director Ray Pedersen for the Seattle World's Fair.[citation needed]
In 2005, new corporate owners ConocoPhillips began a rebranding campaign to unify the design elements of each of the merged brands (76, Phillips, and Conoco), which included replacing all the orange-ball signs with monument-style[clarification needed] signs in the red-orange and blue color scheme. In response to negative publicity generated by a grassroots "Save The 76 Ball" campaign,[citation needed] ConocoPhillips reversed this decision in January 2007, and agreed to donate several classic orange 76 balls to museums and to erect approximately 100 balls in the new red-orange and blue color scheme.
Until the end of 2003, 76 "spotters" balls were located at the Daytona International Speedway in all four turns as well as at other NASCAR tracks. They were used as scoring points, had portholes, and were capable of holding a few people inside. The first of these balls was placed inside the second story of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.[14] Another was given to the owner of The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Florida, and sits prominently on display outside the front grounds.[15]Dale Earnhardt Jr. acquired the 76 ball from North Wilkesboro Speedway and displays it with a vintage 76 gas station on his "Whiskey River" property. Similar balls were near pit entrances at most NASCAR circuits until the sponsorship ended, but unlike spheres, they were flat on both sides and illuminated at night during races.[citation needed]
Union 76 Gas station at night
The 76 ball is also a landmark at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the only gas station on the premises of a major league ballpark is visible from the park beyond the outfield stands. The gas station is no longer active and has been converted into an event space. 76 ball logos also adorn the baseball field's on-deck circles. Union Oil was a longtime sponsor of the Dodgers baseball team, beginning with their relocation to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. The sponsorship by the 76 brand continues to this day.
Beginning in 1967, Union 76 distributed tens of millions of small orange foam balls with the 76 logo, meant to be impaled on the radio antenna of a car.[citation needed] These were popular especially in the Greater Los Angeles area, where they are still seen.[citation needed] In the winter of 1968, wind and snow created drifts in Spokane, Washington made it difficult to locate cars without whip antennas and the orange 76 ball on them.[citation needed]
In recent years, 76 has appeared in certain areas in the eastern United States, as part of a licensing deal with Motiva Enterprises.[16] Since 2013, they have returned to the orange ball imagery as part of the "Experience 76" program.[17]
