Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel,
"Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand.
Texaco
was an independent company until it merged into Chevron Corporation in
2001. It began as the Texas Fuel Company, founded in 1901 in Beaumont, Texas
by Joseph S. Cullinan, Thomas J. Donoghue, Walter Benona Sharp and Arnold Schlaet
upon discovery of oil at Spindletop. For many years, Texaco was the only company
selling gasoline in all 50 states, but this is no longer true. Its logo features
a white star in a red circle (a reference to the lone star of Texas), leading
to the long-running advertising jingles "You can trust your car to the man
who wears the star" and "Star of the American Road." Texaco gasoline comes with
Techron, an additive developed by Chevron, as of 2005, replacing the previous
CleanSystem3. The Texaco brand is strong in the United States, Latin America
and West Africa. It has a presence in Europe as well.
Texaco is associated
with the Havoline brand of motor oil and other automotive products. It is
one of the sponsors of NASCAR with drivers like Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan, Ricky
Rudd, Jamie McMurray, and Casey Mears. Texaco currently sponsors Car 42, driven
by Juan Pablo Montoya. Havoline has sponsored a NASCAR race car continuously
since the early 1980s. Texaco has also has also been involved in Indy car racing
sponsoring Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti and his son Michael Andretti.
It
has also been associated with the Metropolitan Opera radio
broadcasts, as well as such entertainment legends as Bob Hope, Jack Benny and
Milton Berle (many of their shows were originally sponsored by Texaco - see Texaco
Star Theatre, which includes the sponsorship lyrics of the opening theme: "We're
the men of Texaco, We work from Maine to Mexico..."). Berle's program was
broadcast in the same time slot as Fulton J. Sheen's religious program for a while,
thus leading to Berle's oft-quoted quip, "We both have the same boss - Sky
Chief!" |
