Corporate advertisers weaponized the image of Arab oil figures to sell energy policy

Evidence

It was enough for “these men” to appear as they have appeared in newspapers and on television for American viewers to feel a combination of anger, resentment, and fear. And it is this combination of feelings that Con Ed instantly aroused and exploited for domestic commercial reasons, just as a year earlier Stuart Eizenstat, President Carter’s domestic policy adviser and now a senior official in the Clinton administration, had urged the president that “with strong steps we [should] mobilize the nation around a real crisis and with a clear enemy — OPEC.” — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 111

Categorization

• CANDY: Con Ed ran a TV ad using OPEC clips to scare Americans into supporting alternatives — a short, tweetable piece of 1980 cultural trivia.