Existing comment:
“THIS CALLS FOR A REAL CLEANUP JOB . . .”
Herblock disparaged the Union Oil Company’s response to oil seeping from its offshore wells near Santa Barbara, California, in January and February 1969. The cartoonist contrasts the plight of small children standing in an oil slick, while executives relax in the sun determined to rely on advertising to avoid the costs of physical clean-up. After nearly three million gallons of crude oil spilled into the sea, the resulting environmental protection movement led President Nixon to sign the National Environmental Policy Act in 1969.
Enlarge
“This Calls For a Real Cleanup Job—A Whole New Series of Ads to Improve Our Image,” 1969. Published in the Washington Post, February 9, 1969. |