fuel brand by exxon mobil . for the unrelated genetic term see exon . see also esso mobil and exxonmobil this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . october 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message exxon an exxon branded gas station in california in march 2005 . product type gasoline convenience store at some locations diesel fuel car wash automobile repair shop owner exxonmobil country united states introduced january 1 1973 ; 43 years ago 1973 01 01 1 related brands esso mobil petron website www.exxon.com exxon building 1251 avenue of americas former headquarters of exxon exxon ks n is the former name of a an oil and natural resources company that merged with mobil in 1999 to form what is now known as exxonmobil . the exxon name is still currently used by exxonmobil s downstream operations as a brand for certain of its gas stations motor fuel and related products the highest concentration of which are located in new jersey pennsylvania texas and in the mid atlantic and southeastern states . exxon was the successor to what was previously known as humble oil or standard oil of new jersey . it was one of the seven sisters that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid 1940s to the 1970s . contents 1 history 2 logo 3 branding 4 notes 5 external links history edit exxon replaced the esso enco and humble brands in the united states on january 1 1973 . the esso name was a trademark of jersey standard oil and attracted protests from other standard oil spinoffs because of its phonetic similarity to the acronym of the name of the parent company standard oil . as a result jersey standard was restricted from using esso in the u.s. except in those states awarded to it in the 1911 standard oil antitrust settlement . in states where it was restricted from using the esso name the company marketed under the humble or enco brands . the humble brand was used at texas stations for decades as those operations were under the direction of jersey standard affiliate humble oil & refining company . in the middle to late 1950s use of the humble brand spread to other southwestern states including arizona new mexico and oklahoma . in 1959 jersey standard secured full control of humble oil and restructured it into its u.s. marketing and refining division to market nationwide under the enco esso and humble brands . enco was created as an abbreviation of the phrase energy company . humble introduced the enco brand in 1960 in oklahoma and surrounding states to replace humble s subsidiary oklahoma and pate brands . humble also tried marketing under enco in ohio but standard oil company of ohio sohio protested that the enco name and logo a white oval with blue border and red lettering too closely resembled that of esso . consequently stations in ohio were rebranded as humble and remained so until the exxon brand came into use . after the enco brand was discontinued in ohio it was moved to other non esso states . in 1961 humble stations in arizona new mexico oklahoma and texas were rebranded to enco . that same year enco appeared on former carter stations in the midwest and the pacific northwest . in 1963 humble oil and tidewater oil company began negotiating a sale of tidewater s west coast refining and marketing operations . the sale would have given humble oil a large number of existing flying a stations and distributorships as well as a refinery in california the nation s fastest growing gasoline market . however the justice department objected to the sale on anti trust grounds . in 1966 phillips petroleum company bought tidewater s western properties and rebranded all flying a outlets to phillips 66 . humble oil continued to expand its west coast operations adding california to its marketing territory building a large number of new enco stations and rebranding others . in 1967 humble oil purchased all remaining signal stations from standard oil company of california chevron and rebranded them as enco outlets greatly increasing enco s presence in california . finally in 1969 humble oil opened a new refinery in benicia california . in 1966 the u.s. justice department ordered humble oil to cease and desist from using the esso brand at stations in several southeastern states following protests from standard oil of kentucky kyso which was a standard of california subsidiary in the process of rebranding its standard stations to chevron . by 1967 humble oil s esso stations in the southeast were rebranded to enco . in the 1960s and early 1970s humble oil continued to have difficulties promoting itself as a nationwide marketer of petroleum products despite a number of high profile marketing strategies . these included the popular put a tiger in your tank advertising campaign and accompanying tiger mascot introduced in 1959 2 to promote enco extra and esso extra gasolines . humble oil also used similar logotypes use of the humble name in all enco and esso advertising and uniform designs for all stations regardless of brand . in addition humble oil was a major promoter and broadcast sponsor for college football in the pacific 8 now pac 12 and southwestern conferences . but humble oil still faced stiff competition from such national brands such as shell and texaco which at that time was the only company to market under one brand name in all 50 states . by the late 1960s humble officials realized that the time had come to develop a new brand name that could be used nationwide . at first consideration was given to simply rebranding all stations as enco but that was shelved when it was learned that the word enco is similar in pronunciation to the japanese slang term enko meaning stalled car an abbreviation of enjin no kosho engine breakdown . 3 in 1972 exxon was unveiled as the new unified brand name for all former enco and esso outlets . at the same time the company changed its corporate name from standard oil of new jersey to exxon corporation . the rebranding came after successful test marketing of the exxon name under two experimental logos in the fall and winter of 1971 72 . along with the new name exxon settled on a rectangular logo using red lettering and blue trim on a white background similar to the familiar color scheme on the old enco and esso logos . the company initially planned to change its name to exon in keeping with the four letter format of enco and esso . however during the planning process it was noted that james exon was the governor of nebraska . renaming the company after a sitting governor seemed ill advised and the second x was added to the new name and logo . the unrestricted international use of the popular esso brand prompted exxon to continue using it outside the u.s. esso is the only widely used standard oil descendant brand left in existence . others such as chevron maintain a few standard branded stations in specific states in order to retain their trademarks and prevent others from using them . in 1989 exxon announced that it was moving its headquarters including about 300 employees from manhattan new york city to the las colinas area of irving texas . exxon sold the exxon building 1251 avenue of the americas its former headquarters in rockefeller center to a unit of mitsui real estate development co. ltd. in 1986 for 610 million . john walsh president of exxon subsidiary friendswood development company stated that exxon left new york because the costs were too high . 4 in march 2016 the rockefeller family fund said that they will divest from fossil fuels and eliminate holdings from exxon mobil corp. 5 logo edit the rectangular exxon logo with the blue strip at the bottom and red lettering with the two x s interlinked together was designed by noted industrial stylist raymond loewy . the interlinked x s are incorporated in the modern day exxonmobil corporate logo but the original exxon logo continues for marketing and station signage . mad magazine spoofed the logo by showing a huge sign above the white house nixxon with the caption . . but it s still the same old gas in 1985 minolta introduced a new autofocus slr camera system named maxxum in the united states . originally cameras such as the maxxum 7000 lenses and flashes used a logo with the x s crossed in maxxum . 6 exxon considered this a violation of their trademark and as a result minolta was allowed to distribute cameras already produced but was forced to change the stylistic xx and implement this as a change in new production . 7 branding edit exxon is exxonmobil s primary retail gasoline brand in most of the united states with the highest concentration of retail outlets located in new jersey pennsylvania texas and in the mid atlantic and southeastern states . the exxon brand has a significant market presence in the following metropolitan areas map of exxon stores in the united states atlanta new orleans baltimore new york city metro new jersey birmingham philadelphia charlotte pittsburgh dallas raleigh houston richmond memphis virginia beach norfolk newport news nashville washington dc mobil is the company s primary retail gasoline brand in california florida new york new england the great lakes and the midwest . esso is exxonmobil s primary gasoline brand worldwide except in australia and new zealand where the mobil brand is used exclusively . in colombia both the esso and mobil brands are used . notes edit exxon corporation . encyclop dia britannica . retrieved 23 july 2012 . exxonmobil our history . retrieved 2010 02 13 . and see also the fact that almost at newport jazz festival 1960 the musician muddy waters performed his hit put a tiger in your tank slating the esso advert by applying the slogan to special masculinity s sexual wishes towards a woman cf. muddy waters tiger in your tank . retrieved 2010 02 13 . and its recording on the album at newport 1960 . 1959 as the year of the final slogan message is also mentioned by brian ash tiger in your tank the anatomy of an advertising campaign 1969 p. 32 . on with exxon . time . time.com . 1972 05 22 . retrieved 2008 12 25 . pearson anne and ralph bivins . exxon moving corporate headquarters to dallas . houston chronicle . friday october 27 1989 . a1 . retrieved on july 29 2009 . http www.reuters.com article us rockefeller exxon mobil investments iduskcn0wp266 minolta maxxum camera with original crossed xx logo minolta maxxum camera with modified double x logo external links edit official website v t e exxonmobil divisions aera energy esso esso australia exxon exxon neftegas humble oil imperial oil magnolia petroleum company mobil mobil producing nigeria petron seariver maritime superior oil company syncrude vacuum oil company xto energy people michael boskin larry r. faulkner william w. george james r. houghton samuel j. palmisano lee r. raymond john d. rockefeller walter v. shipley walter c. teagle rex tillerson facilities baton rouge refinery baytown refinery milford haven exxon building new york fawley refinery imperial oil building nanticoke refinery controversies