Esso is an international trade name used by Exxon Mobil and its related companies.
In Canada, this brand is used on stations operated by Imperial Oil. It was kept when the Standard Oil company and its corporate descendants changed the brand name to Exxon in the United States and some other countries.
The name Esso is still used outside of the United States.
The name ESSO is the acronym for Eastern States Standard Oil.
The name ESSO is the phonetic spelling of the letters "S" and "O" which of course means Standard Oil. When Rockefeller's original Standard Oil Company was broken up, all of the off spring obtained rights to the trademarks in their respective territories. SO was one of these.
Standard Oil Co of New Jersey which had the ESSO brand originally had marketing agreements with its former siblings. Then, it tried to actually invade these territories. For example, in the early 1930's, 3 stations were opened in the midwest which was Standard Oil of Indiana Territory. To complicate issues, people were "fooled" with radio advertising since you cannot distinguish ESSO from SO. A lawsuit followed and Indiana won the case. Similar situations occurred over the years so EXXON was adapted since it can be a NATIONWIDE trademark in the US.
Today, Standard Oil Co of New Jersey is Exxon-Mobil while Standard Oil Co of Indiana is Amoco, now part of BP.
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