Home » I Tried Using AI To Help Me Understand This Deeply Confusing Old Gas Station Ad And It Didn’t Work

I Tried Using AI To Help Me Understand This Deeply Confusing Old Gas Station Ad And It Didn’t Work

Mobilgasad Top
ADVERTISEMENT

I’m frustrated. I can tell you this because I know we’re close and I know you won’t tell anyone. I just wrote a big thing about EVs that my partners want to hold until tomorrow because we already have so much EV content but I’m a petulant child and just want to publish stuff now now now and then never look back, and look to the next story and on and on forever! Oh well. I’ll just move on to something genuinely relevant and important, like this peculiar 71 year old cartoon magazine ad for a gas station. This old ad is incredible because if you’re just flipping pages, it actually can make you do a double-take and flip back to it, just to see what the hell is going on there. Which is really the ultimate achievement for a magazine ad, is it not? Let’s look at this crazy thing.

Here’s the ad in question, scanned from a November 1952 issue of Motor Trend:

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

Mobilgas Ad1

Okay! Let’s just do a quick survey of the land here, and see what we’re dealing with: we have a car that looks like some composite of a few early 1910s cars, a radiator shaped a bit like a White and a body that resembles a Ford Model T coupé. The car has a well-laden roof rack, what appear to be curtains inside, and is occupied by a pair of middle-aged women wearing identical and very prim and proper clothing, including lace collars, spectacles, and a hat adorned with chains of flowers.

They also appear to be identical twins.

ADVERTISEMENT

There’s also what seems to be a large dead moose lashed to the running board and fenders of the car, and the expression on the moose’s face is one that suggests that he has finally found true peace in the cold embrace of death:

Mooseface

Look at that face: the closed eyes, the satisfied smile, the relaxed demeanor – I’ve never seen another moose make looking being shot and killed by a couple of dowagers look so appealing.

Then, of course, there is what is arguably the focal point of the ad, the Mobilgas attendant, dapper in his crisp uniform, under a trio of trustworthy diamonds proclaiming CLEAN REST ROOMS, and, yes, pointing a rifle right at his face. That’s the detail that made me do a double-take the first time, because, well, at a glance it looks like the dude is about to blow his brains out.

Closer inspection suggests that he seems to be cleaning the rifle, as there is a rag in his other hand, and while I don’t pretend to be a firearms expert, I’m going to go out on a limb and say if you’re cleaning a gun, maybe don’t point it right at your eye? I don’t think he has a finger on the trigger, but I also am not 100% sure of that, either. Point is, these two old ladies trundled into a gas station with, what, 1,200 pounds of dead moose meat strapped to their car and now there’s a guy pointing a gun at his face.

ADVERTISEMENT

I’m assuming this is all just related to the “extra friendly service” tagline, though the copy uses checking on your battery as opposed to cleaning your gun. Did this sort of thing actually happen? Would gas station attendants clean whatever firearms you happened to bring with you when you got gas? Would a company like Mobil want to encourage that?

Maybe these two women have hypnotized this poor bastard! They seem to look quite pleased with themselves as he dangerously handles that gun. Are they doing this with their mind, for sport? Is this how they landed that massive, beatific-looking moose? Are they dangerous? Should we be worried?

Is this a good ad? I can’t even tell anymore. If we interpret this picture in the most straightforward manner possible, the narrative is that a set of identical twin women took a hunting trip, killed a moose, and then stopped for gas on the way back, whereupon the gas station attendant cleaned their rifle. Okay. I guess that says something about service?

How would people react to this today? If this was done in a less cartoony and more modern manner? You know what? This is an ideal application for AI image generation!

I used the following description of the ad to produce these images:

ADVERTISEMENT
old identical twin women go to gas station in a car with a dead moose strapped to it while the gas station attendant cleans a rifle by pointing it at his face

…and here were the results:

Mobigasai1 Mobilgasai2

Huh. Look at that. The top one has a car that feels like a ’60s Mopar ute sort of thing at the bottom, and a more modern minivan up top. I see the old ladies, hunting, and a moose, and also a sort of moose-human hybrid being in there. Also that moose seems to have a segmented body, like an ant.

The lower pair of images grant antlers to some of the women, a bold choice, and I like the upper car; it reminds me a bit of a Renault Dauphine. The lower car has a sort of roof-mounted rifle, I think, and what may be a lot of blood on the side. Let’s take another stab at this, but this time with an even more photographic approach:

Mobilad Ai3 Mobilgasai4

ADVERTISEMENT

Well, I’m not sure these help, but they do seem less violent; in the top one, that moose seems more like a sweet pet, some kind of specially-bred lap moose, and in the second one, in that painfully-confusing car the moose doesn’t look dead at all. Would any of these work for a modern ad campaign for a gas station? Maybe, right? I mean, I’d probably still do a double-take, just like I did for their inspiration, made seven decades ago.

I think the takeaway here is pretty clear: don’t point a rifle at your face, dummy.

Relatedbar

There May Be More Behind That Weird Hyundai Ad You’ve Seen Than You Realize

This Bird Crap-Covered Citroën ID Wagon For Sale Is Hiding A Strange And Wonderful Dashboard Secret

This Swedish Kid’s-Show Has The Most Terrifying Anthropomorphized Vehicles I’ve Ever Seen

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on reddit
Reddit
Subscribe
Notify of
48 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Erik Hancock
Erik Hancock
1 year ago

A search for “mobilgas extra friendly service” turns up a number of weird ads from this campaign, ranging from the merely quirky (a service attendant carrying a small boy to the “gents” room on a cushion) to the really strange and specific (attendant polishing the optics on some kind of jalopy-mounted telescope offering 10-cent views of the moon and Venus).

John Crouch
John Crouch
1 year ago

The quality of weed in the early 50’s was either very good or very poor (Can’t figure out which), at least in the art department of Mobiles ad firm.

Vetatur Fumare
Vetatur Fumare
1 year ago

I like that the AI uses birch trees in the background, very apt for Scandinavian moose hunting. In general, I think AI has not drawn enough moose yet and they seem to have omitted the gas station attendant entirely.

Grey alien in a beige sedan
Grey alien in a beige sedan
1 year ago

Those AI images are just a boatload of harmless little internet fun… oh wait, what the grand funk did I just look at?!??! I’m scarred! Scarred for life now!

Andreas Jüngling
Andreas Jüngling
1 year ago

My brain hurts…

Jack Beckman
Jack Beckman
1 year ago

Too much to assume the moose is dead. He’s just tied to the car because there’s no room for him in the cabin, and he’s sleeping – pining’ for the fjords, maybe. There, see, he moved!

Balloondoggle
Balloondoggle
1 year ago

Based on the publication date, the attendant is probably a WWII veteran and recognizes the importance of weapon maintenance. He’s using his expert skills to provide additional services above and beyond, but is a bit rusty and has forgotten certain basic safety protocols.

The women remind me of the Baldwin sisters from The Waltons.

Greg Franklin
Greg Franklin
1 year ago
Reply to  Balloondoggle

Looking down the barrel of a gun is not “forgetting a safety protocol.” Such expert, yes.

Dennis Frederickson
Dennis Frederickson
1 year ago

You’ve worked hard for a year now.
Blog is doing fine.
Maybe time for a vacay?
Restore your sanity?

Not Sure
Not Sure
1 year ago

No, please no!
Embrace the brilliance that comes from crazy.

Jesus Helicoptering Christ
Jesus Helicoptering Christ
1 year ago

That second AI generated image is genuinely good.
The antler woman facing off the moose, the Renault Dauphine parked there. The bleak landscape.
It looks like an album cover or something.

MaximillianMeen
MaximillianMeen
1 year ago

It looks like an album cover or something.

Fushca Lloyd’s “Neutron Liver Granny”

Amberturnsignalsarebetter
Amberturnsignalsarebetter
1 year ago

I don’t remember this episode of The Wacky Races, but it does explain why Bullwinkle never featured in that series. Poor fella ended up mounted on the wall in the evil twins cottage instead.

I figure he would have driven a Moosetang with Rocky navigating from the steering rack.

Chris D
Chris D
1 year ago

“I’m really tired of the insane customers I have to deal with for twelve an a half cents an hour. I just can’t take this any more! Goodbye, cruel world!”

Double Wide Harvey Park
Double Wide Harvey Park
1 year ago

Now we know the effects of lead battery dust on AI computers.

This is the funniest Torch article I’ve read in weeks and he’s had some bangers.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
1 year ago

The truly weird aspect is that I think this ad is meant to appeal to women. You’ve got the chipper young man attending to their every need and then you’ve got the emphasis on clean rest rooms, which was most definitely a marketing strategy meant to attract female travelers. All of the oil companies emphasized restrooms in the post-war years when more people were hitting the road, especially all those women who’d learned to drive (and work outside the home) while the men were away saving the world for democracy. So, maybe guys aren’t supposed “get” this ad.

Not Sure
Not Sure
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Nice perspective. Suddenly that add makes more sense.

Flyingstitch
Flyingstitch
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Nah, it’s Motor Trend in 1952. It’s telling the menfolk to tell their womenfolk to get their gas at the Mobil station.

Lokki
Lokki
1 year ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Correct. The details don’t matter because the target audience doesn’t care about them. All that matters is the fundamental truthiness of the message:

Women who stop at a Mobil gas station will find clean restrooms and a helpful man to do anything they need, no matter what that may be.

Unrelated Note: In a alarming sign of the times we live in, Apple’s spellchecker accepts “Truthiness” as a proper word known to its dictionary. We are all doomed.

Freddy Bartholomew
Freddy Bartholomew
1 year ago
Reply to  Lokki

Wasn’t the phrase “truthiness” coined by Stephen Colbert?
Is Apple ever wrong? /s

Ron888
Ron888
1 year ago

This baffles you Jason? You’re nearly as old as me.Surely you understand the older generation somewhat? This is just old timey humor, nothing serious intended.

Yes the gun cleaning looks slightly alarming to us, but it’s no big deal.The reader is simply required to assume he’s cleared the barrel before looking through it.

Also thanks once again for doing the AI thing.I have no idea how such things work so yours are the only examples i ever see

Not Sure
Not Sure
1 year ago

Hopefully that rifle is unleaded.

Double Wide Harvey Park
Double Wide Harvey Park
1 year ago
Reply to  Not Sure

Unlike Jason’s respiratory system

Hugh Crawford
Hugh Crawford
1 year ago

“I’ve never seen another moose make looking being shot and killed by a couple of dowagers look so appealing”
Well they aren’t hanging about in the taillight bars, that’s for sure.

Dale Mitchell
Dale Mitchell
1 year ago
Reply to  Hugh Crawford

Moose appears to be sleeping, smugly dreaming about his German sports car.

A. Barth
A. Barth
1 year ago

A couple of things.

The Welk Sisters (Anna 1, Anna 2) shoot with iron sights: no namby-pamby optics for them!

The suspension on the car appears to be handling the unilateral moose cargo without any noticeable sagging. That’s pretty impressive.

Theotherotter
Theotherotter
1 year ago

Perhaps this is where Woody Allen got his routine from.

CSRoad
CSRoad
1 year ago

Shoot yourself in the head so you can come hunt with us forever Danny.
As for the AI stuff I don’t know.

Usernametaken
Usernametaken
1 year ago

Someone may be a handle of liquor deep and on peyote here.

Is it you?

Is it them?

All I can say, is if drugs isn’t the answer here I’d rather not know about it.

Nlpnt
Nlpnt
1 year ago
Reply to  Usernametaken

It was the golden age of the three-martini lunch. Plus I’m sure they’d been drinking from the time they got to the office. I base this knowledge from almost a decade of watching Mad Men.

Not Sure
Not Sure
1 year ago
Reply to  Usernametaken

Drugs are definitely not the answer here.
If they were you’d know about it.

Rusty S Trusty
Rusty S Trusty
1 year ago

The girls are on a “moose hunt” so he’s offering to “clean their rifle”. It’s all double entendre.

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
1 year ago

If i remember my old Mobile ads there should be 4 service station attendants pumping fuel, cleaning windows, checking oil tire pressure, these are old tymie women not old women so maybe Goober wants to do the humpty hump with miss Llewellyn, or maybe threesomes arent as new as we thought. Think outside the box man for gods sake

MATTinMKE
MATTinMKE
1 year ago

I’m so confused by the AI pictures. So very confused.

Not Sure
Not Sure
1 year ago
Reply to  MATTinMKE

Yeah, it’s just a bunch of bull.

Last edited 1 year ago by Not Sure
Paul E
Paul E
1 year ago

In one of the more awkward exchanges of pickup lines ever, the gas station attendant complimented the ladies on the fender-mounted moose ornament, telling them, “Nice rack!”. From there, the ladies handed the gun over to the attendant for inspection, telling him, “Nice guns!”.

RustHoles
RustHoles
1 year ago

With the action open you can look down the inside of the barrel to see if you’ve cleaned it sufficiently. You can shine a light from the action, or hold it up in the sun like the Mobil attendant is doing. It’s more comfortable to do so from the other end of the rifle, but with some the action is in the way so you do what he’s doing. So yeah, he’s cleaned their gun and is checking to make sure the bore is cleaned sufficiently.

Last edited 1 year ago by RustHoles
Laurence Rogers
Laurence Rogers
1 year ago
Reply to  RustHoles

Hard to say if bolt is still in place in the image, if it is removed then he’s not doing anything that unusual except standing on the forecourt of the servo with the rifle which probably wasn’t such a big deal back then.

I know quite a few people who use engine oil in their firearms, maybe Mobil already knew this back then?

A. Barth
A. Barth
1 year ago

After opening the pic in a new tab and zooming in, it looks like the bolt is still in place.

OTOH this is a humorous advert, rather than a firearm safety poster, so I think we can allow it. 🙂

Double Wide Harvey Park
Double Wide Harvey Park
1 year ago

> servo

Found THE Laurence Rogers!

48
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x