The orange ball
Union Oil, for many years based in El Segundo, California, introduced "76" gasoline in 1932. The name referred to the 1776 United States Declaration of Independence, and was also the octane rating of the gasoline in 1932.[13]
76 signs are orange balls with a 76 legend in blue. During the 1960s and '70s, most stations had the 76 ball rotate when the signs were illuminated. The first such sign was designed in 1962 by advertising creative director Ray Pedersen for the Seattle World's Fair.[14]
In 2005, new corporate owners ConocoPhillips began a rebranding campaign to unify the design elements of each of the merged brands (76, Phillips, and Conoco), which included replacing all the orange-ball signs with monument-style signs (flat disk style signs)[15] in the red-orange and blue color scheme. In response to negative publicity generated by a grassroots "Save The 76 Ball" campaign,[16] ConocoPhillips reversed this decision in January 2007, and agreed to donate several classic orange 76 balls to museums and to erect approximately 100 balls in the new red-orange and blue color scheme.
The 76 ball is a popular logo in the "Cult Style" of European car tuning (especially on Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTIs, due to the debut year of 1976), and it is used on clothing items in Japan as of 2005.
Until the end of 2003, 76 "spotters" balls were located at the Daytona International Speedway in all four turns as well as at other NASCAR tracks. They were used as scoring points, had portholes, and were capable of holding a few people inside. The first of these balls was placed inside the second story of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.[17] Another was given to the owner of The Brumos Collection in Jacksonville, Florida, and sits prominently on display outside the front grounds.[18] Dale Earnhardt Jr. acquired the 76 ball from North Wilkesboro Speedway and displays it with a vintage 76 gas station on his "Whiskey River" property. Similar balls were near pit entrances at most NASCAR circuits until the sponsorship ended, but unlike spheres, they were flat on both sides and illuminated at night during races.
The 76 ball is also a landmark that sits atop Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the only gas station on the premises of a Major League ballpark is visible from the park beyond the outfield stands. The gas station is no longer active and has been converted into an event space. 76 ball logos also adorn the baseball field's on-deck circles. Union Oil was a longtime sponsor of the Dodgers baseball team, beginning with their relocation to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. The sponsorship by the 76 brand continues to this day.[19]
Beginning in 1967, Union 76 distributed tens of millions of small orange foam balls with the 76 logo, meant to be impaled on the radio antenna of a car. These were popular especially in the Greater Los Angeles area, where they are still seen. In the winter of 1968, wind and snow created drifts in Spokane, Washington made it difficult to locate cars without whip antennas and the orange 76 ball on them.
In recent years, 76 has appeared in certain areas in the eastern United States, as part of a licensing deal with Motiva Enterprises.[20] Since 2013, they have returned to the orange ball imagery as part of the "Experience 76" program.[21]
Some stations with the full orange ball sign place special hoods over them for Halloween to make them look like jack-o'-lanterns.
