About a year and a half ago, Shell Lubricants unveiled several new marketing efforts in support of its Rotella engine oil brand. One of those efforts included creating a series of “micro-documentaries” to shine a spotlight on just some of the unsung and hard-working jobs performed by millions of Americans day in and day out for the benefit of our country; an effort my colleague Brian Straight quite effectively chronicled in his blog back in January.
Chris Guerrero, global marketing manager for Shell Lubricants, noted during a engine teardown event I’m attending here in Greensboro, NC, stressed that these “micro-documentaries” aren’t scripted Hollywood productions.
“The poetry of their hard work is not written by anyone – it comes from them,” he said, pointing in particular to the fifth installment in the series, which chronicles the labor Keith Allen performs to make world-class hickory smoked BBQ for the family’s 40-year old eatery, Allen & Sons BBQ.
[While that one hasn’t hit the airwaves yet, Allen sounds themes regarding the worth of hard work similar to those of Ron Enos, a fifth generation farmer of Enos Family Farms in California, seen below.]
And, yes, while all of these “micro-docs” are in service to Shell’s Rotella marketing campaign, the only mention of the engine oil comes at the end – allowing some time-honored yet often forgotten philosophies about the value of hard work to shine through.