Moeve and the dinosaurs: the Jurassic CO2 behind its gasoline ads

Dinosaurs to sell gasoline: meet the new Moeve

Cepsa is no longer Cepsa. The former Spanish oil company, controlled for several years now by a sovereign wealth fund from the United Arab Emirates, has rebranded itself as Moeve, and its new advertising campaign has decided that gasoline comes from a Jurassic Park dinosaur. The company promises to stop selling fossil fuels, but to many the message sounds like hot air: the prehistoric reptile stars in the ad while the pump keeps flowing with diesel.

The science behind the ad

The idea is not as far-fetched as it seems. Oil is carbon that was once in the atmosphere and was buried by organisms more than 250 million years ago. According to the GEOCARB model, CO2 concentration in the Jurassic stood at around 2,000 ppm, five times the current 380 ppm. In the Pliocene, levels were similar to today's, around 400 ppm. So the campaign has a scientific grounding, but reality is stubborn: the company will keep selling diesel and gasoline in huge volumes as long as demand exists.

Critics point out that the rebranding will cost a fortune in blue signage, not counting the tons of CO2 emitted in producing it. And not everyone believes the message will land: the buyer of a low-cost vehicle, in more of a hurry than eco-conscious, probably won't stop to think about the geological origin of the fuel.

The awkward detail

Dinosaurs, it is said, went extinct because of climate change. Now the new Moeve is resurrecting them in its advertising to sell the very fuel that killed them. Irony or plain marketing? Nobody knows. But the detail that Jurassic-era CO2 was five times today's level adds an uncomfortable twist to the oil company's green narrative.