When social media first debuted, most people saw it as a way for indie musicians to bring their music to a larger audience, as on MySpace, or a way for college kids to invite each other to campus parties, as on Facebook. But savvy business people soon saw the potential for social media to provide a two-way dialogue between their public and often-inaccessible corporate suits. Corporate giants like Dell, Zappos, and Kraft Foods have embraced the power of social media, using this increasingly popular medium as a conversation tool with customers and the public. Now customers feel like they’re being heard by the companies they give their money to.
Well, except for some companies. Take our old friend BP.
Here at BP Oil News, we are, of course, covering the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast with both Twitter (@bpoilnews) and one of the earliest types of social media – our blog. And though our blog is brand new, we found that within days of starting the blog, we were receiving suggested solutions from engineers and members of the public, including this one: [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
BP,
BP oil spill,
damages,
environmental crisis,
environmental damage,
health impacts,
job loss,
Louisiana Bucket Brigade,
social media
Beyond Petroleum, or “Greenwashing?”
Beyond Petroleum or Big Polluter? Is British Petroleum just greenwashing? By now we’re all familiar with the latest national environmental crisis. An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, a BP offshore oil drilling rig, caused the deaths of 11 workers, injured 7 more, and left an oil spill the size of Rhode Island drifting inexorably toward the Gulf Coast. But this isn’t the first time the company has been responsible for an environmental crisis, or the first time that they’ve attempted to change the narrative when accused of environmental malfeasance. BP greenwashing is the company’s current modus operandi.
The initials BP originally stood for “British Petroleum,” but you wouldn’t know it in recent years. In an interesting example of “backronyming,” in 2000 the oil giant began labeling itself “Beyond Petroleum.” The “Beyond Petroleum” slogan, found plastered on ads in national publications and on television, was soon reinforced when the company, according to Multinational Monitor’s The 10 Worst Corporations of 2005 report, announced “that it expects to spend as much as $8 billion in alternative-energy projects, including solar, wind, hydrogen and carbon-abatement technology, over 10 years.” Just how serious is an $8 billion commitment from BP? Given the fact that the corporation reported a profit of more than $6 billion in the first quarter of 2010, it’s merely four months’ profit. In view of BP’s conduct in the ten years since it began its “beyond petroleum” PR campaign, there has been plenty of evidence that it’s just BP greenwashing. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Beyond Petroleum,
BP,
British Petroleum,
Greenpeace,
greenwashing,
Greg Haegele,
Louisiana Bucket Brigade,
oil spill,
Public Citizen,
Rep. Joe Barton,
Transocean
