United Refining Expands Patriotic Ads

WARREN, Pa. -- United Refining Co., petroleum refiner and marketer and operator of 370 Kwik Fill/Red Apple and Country Fair c-stores, is expanding its ad campaign that touts the company's products are made here using crude oil from Canada, with none of its fuels tied to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

"We just recently began running the commercial in the Pittsburgh area," Ashton Ditka, the company's senior vice president of marketing, told the paper. "We started out in the Rochester, N.Y., area [in 2006], and we've found them to be very effective."

The 105-year-old company sells more than 400 million gallons of product annually through its chain of convenience stores in western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Western New York, the report stated.

"We feel the commercials have had a positive effect on sales, and we've gotten a lot of positive phone calls from customers," Peter Conley, vice president and retail manager for Kwik Fill/Red Apple, told the paper. "We're hoping to build on the American theme going forward."

The "buy American" commercial includes six men and women explaining the company's North American business and explains that by buying United Refining products at Kwik Fill convenience stores and gas stations, consumers keep jobs and businesses in America and keep American families strong, the report stated.

"Overall, the commercials are very well done," Tom Meinert, managing partner of public relations firm WJG&A, told the paper. "While everyone is asking themselves, 'Should I buy gasoline, should I try to conserve?' at the same time, you have this opportunity to buy American -- it's an incredible opportunity for the company."
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