As the gulf of Mexico oil spill 2010 continues unabated, a "boycott BP" movement driven by social media is gathering steam. Some are even trying to hurt BP's reputation with a fake Twitter account. And BP oil leak parody products like satirical T-shirts are selling like hotcakes. Besides this BP public relations problem, there isn't an effect on the sales on BP's product.
Source for this article: BP Facebook boycott and BP Twitter – PR setback won’t hurt profits By Personal Money Store
BP boycott hits social media
BP boycott organizers are saying that buying gas from other brands would hit the oil business where it hurts, short of the expense incurred dealing with the disaster. More than 11,000 signatures were collected on Wednesday by Public Citizen after launching a BP Boycott Pledge on its site. Consumers are told to take their no fax cash advance other places to get gas by a Facebook boycott group called Boycott BP with more than 75,000 members. Some would rather get the gas somewhere where it is convenient instead of pledging. Also, the Facebook boycott isn't making any difference. The Washington Post surveyed a whole bunch of customers at BP gas stations across the Washington region. Many drivers said it was pointless to complicate the convenience of filling a gas tank with political or moral questions.
Rogue BP Twitter account
The BP Facebook boycott may not be as effective as just hurting BPs reputation as the bogus BP Twitter account @BPGlobalPR. Wednesday the Los Angeles Times reports the fake BP Twitter page had 42,000 followers. BP’s real Twitter account, @BP_America, only has 5,700. The fake BP Twitter account has raised a lot more than $3,000 for the nonprofit Gulf Restoration Network through the sale of $25 BP T-shirts colored black and green to represent money and oil. Some fan favorites from the Twitter page include:
Catastrophe is a strong word, let’s all agree to call it a whoopsie daisy. The good news – Mermaids are real. The bad news: They are now extinct. I’m sorry, are people mad at us for drilling in the ocean?!? Maybe God shouldn’t have put oil there in the first place. DUH.
BP gas station owners take the hit
The BP boycott and BP T-shirts may affect small company BP gas station owners more than the global petroleum behemoth. CNNMoney.com reports that BP doesn’t own the 11,500 gas stations that carry its logo within the United States. BP gas stations are owned by independent franchisees. The gas stations pumped normally 42 million gallons of gas per day last year. An oil business executive told CNN that BP, being one of the largest oil trading companies in the global market, can really sell petroleum products wherever it needs to. Just because American's don't buy gas doesn't mean that somebody else won't. BP told CNN the boycott efforts have had no effect on them.
Discover more details on this topic
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/25/AR2010052501765.html
Los Angeles Times reports
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/05/bpglobalpr.html
CNNMoney.com reports
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/26/news/companies/boycott_BP/?npt=NP1
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