The live streaming video of the oil spill turns my stomach, so I’ve been struggling with this question for weeks: “Can Responsible Marketing help restore BP?”
My gut says “never!” but my brain says “maybe.”
The fact is, trust requires both competence and character—two things BP lacks.
I know it’s early to ask, but if BP did the following things:
- Successfully stopped the oil spill
- Adequately cleaned up their mess
- Proved they made their other rigs safe; and
- Reinvested a large percentage of their profits into other renewable energy options
…would you be willing to give them a second chance?
I boycotted Exxon after the Valdez spill, so I’m on the fence on this one, folks. I’d have to see something pretty special from BP to get me to reconsider them.
How about you?
Seems like it’s getting harder and harder to tell the gut from the brain. You’re absolutely right about what they need to do to lose some of their awful image, this is their only option, and it would not be a bad business call either.
But deep inside, do you really believe they might even consider it? I don’t, for the simple reason that they can’t think differently. They are bound by their mindset. Anything beyond trying to get away with it with a minimal financial loss is impossible to fathom. The very little that we hear from them over here (in France) always goes in that same direction.
We’ll see what BP will do after this crisis is over, if it ever is. I’m ready to bet my pants that no lesson will have been learned. Has Exxon learned? Has Total learned in France after the Erika oil spillage in 1999? Absolutely not. Why should it be any different this time?
Yes, if BP did all that, I’d certainly give them another chance. However, their performance to date does NOT inspire confidence.
Sad thing–under former CEO Browne they were probably the most environmentally committed oil co. Now “committed” is what we’d like to do to their leadership.