Having hung out with the strategic planning, marketing and advertising crowd, I thought I’d heard of all the “Think outside the …” phrases.

How could we forget the burger-bashing approach (still running) of Taco Bell with the clumsy ‘Think outside the bun.’

BP (the company that now stands for Beyond Petroleum) must be deliberately riffing off this cliche with an ad about ‘outside the barrel’ ideas, specifically 3 E’s: Emissions, Environment and Education. For many reasons I like the BP ads in this series, with phrases and words highlighted by a yellow marker. Very polished, very straightforward. It’s not just the ads. Go to the BP site and the content is relatively hype free. As in this paragraph on this page:

Here’s a sample paragraph:

The majority of BP products emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other pollutants when burned; so it is right that we should play an active role in the search for viable solutions to the ‘energy paradox’- the paradox whereby the energy which provides society with heat, light and mobility, fuelling economic growth and development, simultaneously presents us with serious environmental and social challenges.

I would give BP an A- for trying to speak its mind, within the trappings of the hype-ridden genre of advertising and press kits.