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Creator:
Mike Peters
Publication:
Reprinted in Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year 1975
Publication Date:
1974
Description:
In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to withhold shipment of oil to countries that supported Israel in the ongoing war between OPEC countries (and Syria and Egypt) and Israel. The embargo was lifted in 1974, but OPEC took additional measures to increase the price of crude oil on international markets, making the price of gasoline for the consumer skyrocket. Referred to as the Energy Crisis, these events exposed the dependency of the West on the oil of Arab countries. Western economies suffered severe economic recession coupled with inflation. Consumers were forced to wait online for gas for hours. Here popular gas station chains are parodied: Shell becomes Shill, Gulf becomes Gulp, Exxon becomes Exxtort, and Phillips 66 becomes Pilfer 66.
Source:
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University (Reprinted by permission of Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News)