Connecticut’s heating oil dealers are betting a scowling, bodybuilding Old Man Winter can get homeowners thinking about the heating season before the first cold snap.
The Connecticut Energy Marketers Association (CEMA) and Rocky Hill-based advertising agency Decker launched the “Old Man Winter” campaign this month with the National Oilheat Research Alliance. The ads are running statewide on connected TV, social media and digital channels.
The stop-motion-style spots show a frost-covered Old Man Winter in a tank top and work boots, pounding a heavy bag and deadlifting a barbell made of ice as he trains for the season.
Decker Creative Director Dom DeLoya said the agency leaned into the absurd as it developed the marketing materials.
“Personifying winter as a geriatric gym bro who’s training with the sole purpose to wreak absolute havoc on your heating bill was conceptually sharp and absurd in the best ways,” DeLoya said. “We wanted to create something people would laugh at but also pay attention to.”
The goal is to promote Bioheat, the industry’s trademarked name for heating oil blended with biodiesel, which CEMA pitches as a cost-effective, reliable and environmentally friendly way to heat a home.
“Winter sneaks up on us all, and this campaign is a great reminder that Bioheat is an environmentally friendly way to heat your home when the weather turns cold,” said Chris Herb, CEMA’s president.
Herb said just over half of Connecticut homes rely on Bioheat.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates about 41% of Connecticut households use heating oil or other petroleum products for heat, the fourth-highest share of any state.
Every oil-heated home in the state is already burning some biodiesel. Under a 2021 law signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, heating oil sold in Connecticut had to contain 5% biodiesel by 2022 and 10% by 2025, with the minimum rising to 15% in 2030, 20% in 2034 and 50% in 2035.
This story has been updated.
