ESSO TIGER

ESSO TIGER, originally uploaded by Robert Lz.

I just read this about one of the great logo/mascots...and its trademark catchphrase and it was created by another 'Emery Smith':

Esso Tiger - Orange jungle cat with black stripes who represented Esso Oil in the mid-1960s with his trademark catchphrase "Put a tiger in your tank" (created by Chicago copywriter Emery Smith at McCann-Erickson, 1964). The Esso Tiger, first used by Humble Oil, a division of Esso, was originally a friendly and lovable feline akin to A. A. Milne's "Tigger." Later in the campaign, however, the Esso tiger's amiable persona became more ferocious, and energetic to reflect the power and punch of their gasoline products. The success of the ad campaign prompted Time magazine to proclaim 1964 as "The Year of the Tiger along Madison Avenue." The Esso Tiger was retired in the late 1960s but resurrected in 1972 when Esso changed its name to Exxon. Their ad slogan stated "We're changing our name, but not our stripes!"