What happens when 76 Balls are removed by ConocoPhillips?

We have heard reports and seen photos of 76 Balls being dropped and allowed to shatter, laid on their sides to collapse, cut into pieces, crushed and tossed into dumpsters.

How can I help Save the 76 Ball?

A year after we first asked them to reconsider their destroy all balls policy, ConocoPhillips has agreed to give some 76 Balls to museums. We applaud this wonderful news. But we still would like to see a few select orange and blue 76 Balls allowed to remain on their poles, like the 1965 modernist station by William Pereira in Beverly Hills, or one of the stations along Highway One in Malibu. And designer Ray Pedersen deserves to be able to keep one of his classic balls. If you agree:

1. please sign our petition
2. tell your local station owner to keep his 76 Ball lit and spinning if he wants to keep your business
3. call ConocoPhillips in Houston at 281-293-1000, ask for Sylvia Hansen in External Communications, and let her know you want to see a few historic orange and blue 76 Balls stay on their poles, and for designer Ray Pedersen to get one 76 Ball of his own.
4. visit our message board to report existing or missing 76 Balls in your community. Take photos and host them for free right on the message board.

How did the Save the 76 Ball campaign begin?

The website was created by L.A.-based author Kim Cooper in late January 2006, when she noticed her local 76 station had changed its color scheme from orange and blue to a sickening liver-colored red. That afternoon, she built the www.savethe76ball.com website, and wrote a petition with friend and signage historian Nathan Marsak, then sent out a press release. Soon many people were talking about the endangered 76 Balls.

What are the demands of the Save the 76 Ball campaign?

We ask that ConocoPhillips recognize the deep affection that consumers hold for the 76 brand and preserve a number of 76 Balls for museums and other public collections. (UPDATE January 2007: ConocoPhillips has begun allocating 76 Balls to museums.) We ask that ConocoPhillips allow a few select balls at historically or architecturally important stations to remain on their poles. Finally, we ask that 76 Ball designer Ray Pedersen be allowed to keep a ball for his personal collection.

What is the history of the 76 Ball?

The 76 Ball was designed by Ray Pedersen, Union Oil's ad executive at Young and Rubicam Agency, for the 1962 World's Fair. It was a huge hit at the Fair, and soon was duplicated at every Union Oil station in the American West. In 1967, Union launched its popular antenna balls, giving away more than two million of the styrofoam spheres in a single year. In 2003, ConocoPhillips took over the 76 brand, and soon began removing 76 Balls, much to the dismay of consumers, designers, architectural historians and Ray Pedersen.

What media attention has Save the 76 Ball received?

Save the 76 Ball has appeared on the front page of the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, on BBC radio, KTLA morning news, KFI, Los Angeles Magazine, L.A. Business Journal, Indie 103.1 Los Angeles, KIRO Seattle, Steve Parker's Car Nut show, 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.

Where can I buy 76 Ball memorabillia?

This website offers original 76 Ball antenna toppers, plus shirts, mugs, stickers and other neat stuff emblazoned with our own "Don't Let Then Take Our Balls" logo (designed by Phil Goldwhite). Also, click the pictures on the left side of this website for original 76 Ball items like clocks and flags from other vendors. For the completist, full-sized 76 Balls occasionally show up on eBay.