Is BP winning public relations war?

"Publicity is a great purifier because it sets in action the forces of public opinion, and in this country, public opinion controls the courses of the nation." -Charles Evans Hughes-

Never forget: A good and honest publicist is worth their weight in gold.

British Petroleum isn’t the only name in the last 18 months that has gotten tons of bad press, there have been some brilliant examples of PR FAILS that BP might learn from, take for instance the “Balloon Boy” fiasco orchestrated by the publicity grubbing "Wife Swap" Heene parents, who claimed their six year-old son Falcon was soaring with eagles high above Colorado in a run-away Mylar balloon. Can you say, “Jail sentence, community service and restitution to the tune of $36,000,” for pulling off a hoax that simply showed how stupid this kid’s parents were? Lesson One: Honesty is always the best policy.

There is also something learned from Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the wanna-be but never invited White House guests to President Obama’s first State Dinner – no matter how important you think you are - gate crashing is not permitted by the Secret Service. Lesson Two: Never muck with the President of these United States.

What about our own Defense Department’s “photo op” that went awry when a back-up Presidential 747 Air Force One was accompanied by two F-16 fighters and proceeded to buzz over Manhattan scaring the bejangers out of New Yorkers. Someone should have told Mayor Bloomberg that all they wanted were publicity photos. Lesson Three: Keep everyone informed.

Then there are cases such as the brilliant tongue-in-cheek hoax about the 140-year old hot dog with bun plus dinner receipt that was thought to be an archaeological find, discovered encased in ice underneath the demolished ruins of Coney Island’s historic eatery, Feltman’s Kitchen. The story was so convincing that CNN actually broadcast it -oops – it was merely a well-devised promotion for the Coney Island History Project. Lesson Four: Too much hype makes everyone look stupid.

What about the recent faux pas by (now retired) press corps diva Helen Thomas when she dispensed advice to Israel telling them to “Get the Hell out of Palestine” during the Jewish Heritage celebration on May 27, 2010 -she did apologize a few days later. Lesson Five: Never, ever wait to apologize if you are wrong.

On the other side of the coin, there are some outstanding examples that have fostered immense public support and positive press:

Who can forget the 16-foot, 1.5-ton foam sculpture of a Polar bear and cub on an iceberg that was launched in the Thames River to draw awareness to the plight of climate change and Sir David Attenborough’s Fragile Earth series on the Eden natural history television channel? Lesson Six: Any life lost on our precious planet is subject to the butterfly effect.




And, last but not least, one of the all-time greats that drew attention to a talent search – seen on video by over 17 million people – the performance of 200 dancers who had only two rehearsals and performed "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music to an astonished crowd of commuters at the Central Station of Antwerp. Lesson Seven: Buying all the AdWords in the world will not alter opinions - never underestimate the power of ordinary people to influence and bring about change.

What chutzpa: BP CEO, "I want my life back"

If it’s Tuesday, it’s a good day for an unmitigated rant. Frustration mounts as we watch another attempt by British Petroleum to fix the “Big Spill” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Attempts to plug the leak, now in day 42 and spewing out mega gallons of gooey oil into the ocean, have been unsuccessful, even after flushing the pipeline with mud and ramming it with junk shot.

Okay, let’s try something new. No guarantees yet, but some action is better than no action at all. Frankly, (IMHO) I don’t think they know what they are doing at this juncture – time will tell, I guess.

In the midst of the failed attempt and resulting public disappointment, BP CEO Tony Hayward let loose with yet another gaffe.

Already famous for these gems, which were published in the May 14, 2010 edition of The Guardian:

In reference to the size of the leak: “relatively tiny."

In reference to BP safety performance: "In the last four or five years we have made major improvements in safety performance. It has made the company much better … Four years ago it could have been very different."

In reference to early attempts to fix the leak: "It was a bit bumpy to get it going. We made a few little mistakes early on.”

Then this one from Sky News on 5/18/10:

In reference to the environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon Spill: “I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."

Now the crowning statement is captured by the Today Show and first surfacing on Think Progress: “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.”

In response Mr. Hayward, I ask you these questions:

“What of the 11 men who died in the drilling platform explosion; do you think they would like to have their lives back?”

“What of the families of the 11 men who died in the drilling platform explosion, do you think they would like to have their loved ones back?”

“What of the entire fishing industry on the Gulf coast, do you think the fisherman would like to have their lives return to normal and their livelihoods back?”

“What about all the mammals, birds, turtles, dolphins and fish, do you think they would like to have their habitat and their lives back?”

I say, “Suck it up Mr. Hayward, and JUST FIX THE LEAK!" And, while you're at it, get yourself a good PR spokesperson. On your salary of $4.5 million per year, I would expect both issues are doable.

Granted, Hayward does apologize for the “massive disruption,” but before you turn livid upon actually hearing how the massive disruption has disrupted his life in the video below, see my previous post, which includes the live video feed of the newest attempt to fix the leak.

The Big Spill: Day 40

At the time of this posting, it remains to be seen if the “Big Spill,” (now 40 disastrous days and counting) is actually being contained 5,000 feet under the sea in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana’s (now) ecologically fragile coastline.

After yesterday’s site visit by President Obama, and BP’s efforts at attempting to plug up the environmental nightmare using everything from a cache of 2.5 million gallons of drilling mud as a “top kill” and adding a “junk shot” mixture of golf balls and shredded rubber tires, it’s hard to say if success is in the cards based on the images from a live feed provided by PBS “Newshour.”

My understanding is - if you see “muddy brown” that’s a good sign; ” if you see “white” it’s gas and it’s not a good sign, and if you see a spewing black column it’s a big problem.

Maybe we will all have an answer sometime later this weekend. I hope it works.