Chevron Commercial: 50th Anniversary in Thailand

A commercial from Chevron to celebrate 50 years of being in Thailand. My review and take on the commercial. Spotted by Karn G. Bulsuk ...


Spotted by Karn G. Bulsuk

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To celebrate Chevron's 50th anniversary in Thailand, the video above is being played on the BTS and MRT systems where they have a captive audience.

It's not to say that the commercial is bad - I find it pretty good. The message builds up from the beginning to the end, where we see that a teenager, finally willing to listen to his father and join the oil industyr, learned much more than he thought he would and became a man.

The only problem I found was the ending. I thought the message was developed well, and did not need an ending in which they say that the son finally realises he's working for the "good of the Thai people". It feels forced and cheesy.

While I understand that would be an image that Chevron would want to promote, had they omitted the ending sentences, I felt it would have sent another message: that Chevron has always been around to work with Thailand and develop the country. The whole growing up theme would be an analogy for that, while the unspoken message would have been even stronger.

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Translated transcript:

For each person
there is often a lesson
which changes our lives forever
Like for me and my father for example.
Back then, we didn't get along.
There was this one time
When I actually listened to my father.
He wanted me to work on an oil rig
And I did.
But why is it that when I got in
I needed to study hard once again?
Why was it that I needed to train hard
Harder than I had ever done before?
I didn't understand why my father
didn't let me do what I wanted to do
didn't let me choose an easier way
Then one day I understood
What my father wanted me to do
It was not just to achieve something for myself
But to do achieve something for the Thai people
To find energy to develop Thailand
And this is what I am most proud of
Chevron: 50 years in Thailand
Developing energy resources
While believing in the power of people.



Karn Bulsuk: Full Speed Ahead: Chevron Commercial: 50th Anniversary in Thailand
Chevron Commercial: 50th Anniversary in Thailand
Karn Bulsuk: Full Speed Ahead