22 January 2007
Historic 76 Ball Gas Station Signs Saved By Consumer Activists
For immediate release
LOS ANGELES- After a year in which rock critic and cultural historian Kim Cooper launched www.savethe76ball.com on an Apple iBook in her living room, and Drupal-powered website,
and nearly 3000 concerned citizens signed a petition, Texas petroleum giant ConocoPhillips has abandoned its "destroy all balls" policy and agreed to donate several dozen historic orange Union 76 Balls to select museums, in addition to ordering 100 new 76 Balls in CP's signature red. This is a
stunning victory for citizen activism, historic preservation and good design.
When told that his 8-foot wide 76 Ball might be added to the Smithsonian's collection, a delighted Ray Pedersen, who designed and fabricated the first 76 Ball for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, quipped "As a pilot, I don't see why I can't have my 76 Ball alongside the Spirit of St. Louis. It's an icon that people lived with for a long time, and now it's part of their Psyche. If Archie Bunker's chair is there, get my Ball in there!"
The Save the 76 Ball campaign has been widely covered in the mainstream media and the blog community, with front page features in the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, and stories on BBC radio, KTLA morning news, KFI, Steve Parker's Car Nut show, Los Angeles Magazine, L.A. Business Journal, Indie 103.1 Los Angeles, KIRO Seattle, UPI, Brandweek, Intersection, Autoweek, Check the Oil, CNet, PR Week and at BoingBoing.net. The endangered 76 Ball even made a rare speaking appearance in two Zippy the Pinhead comic strips.
The Save the 76 Ball campaign applauds ConocoPhillips for throwing its corporate muscle behind the preservation of the 76 Ball. Save the 76 Ball asks that in addition to the museum donations (which we hope will include all costs of crating and shipping for these large signs), they agree to maintain a select few historically and architecturally significant orange 76 Balls at their original locations. Ideal examples include William Pereira's swooping modernist 76 station in Beverly Hills, one of the spheres along Highway One in Malibu, and the station in Marysville, WA where 76 Ball designer Ray Pedersen buys his gas.
Also, ConocoPhillips has declared that no private individuals will be able to get a 76 Ball, which will be a disappointment to "Reservoir Dogs" star Michael Madsen, who has given several interviews proclaiming his desire for a ball. Save the 76 Ball respectfully ask that ConocoPhillips reconsider
this policy, and to present one 76 Ball to the individual who conceived, designed and hand-painted the first 76 Ball for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair: Ray Pedersen.
Please visit http://www.savethe76ball.com to learn more about the campaign to preserve one of the 20th Century's most successful and enduring design icons, and to see films of threatened 76 balls hard at work in Hawaii and California.
Save the 76 Ball campaigners Kim Cooper and Nathan Marsak are available for interviews, as are 76 Ball designer Ray Pedersen, actor Michael Madsen and Zippy cartoonist Bill Griffith. Contact Kim (amscray@gmail.com, 323-223-2767). See the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/76ball/petition.html
