So turned off by the BP commercial...

[Jeanne B]

It was just on again and every time this "PR" commercial comes on with the CEO, who "wants to get his life back", it turns my stomach.

 

[Christine]

I haven't seen the commercial yet but have only heard about. Who thought it was a good idea?

 

[skater]

Somebody showed extremely poor judgement with that commercial. Something about it turned my stomach too. Maybe it was having the CEO (who has no credibility left) in it.

 

[bicker]

I think people would find grievous fault in whatever BP did now, and with whatever BP didn't do now. If they apologize for the grievous harm they've caused, then people will bash them for it. If they don't say anything, then people will bash them for that. If the CEO apologizes for his insensitive casual comment, then people will bash them for that. If he doesn't apologize, then they'll bash them for that. And so on.

 

[FergieTCat]

It was just on again and every time this "PR" commercial comes on with the CEO, who "wants to get his life back", it turns my stomach.

My response to that is "Take a number, buddy!"

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Saw this last week. Ticked me off too.

The thing is, he probably did it only because the company's PR people told him to do it. And we all know it.

 

[Darsa]

Haven't seen this commercial yet, but he really says that he wants to get his life back??? He wants to get his life back? How close to the actual oil spill does this guy live??? Unreal...

 

[bicker]

No. The commercial basically says, "We're sorry."

In a casual, off-hand remark, last week, the guy said that he wanted to get his life back. It wasn't a prepared remark, not in the slightest. He shouldn't have said it, and apologized for having said it, but no one should get the mistaken impression that that remark was the content of the commercial that BP is running.

 

[Imzadi]

Haven't seen this commercial yet, but he really says that he wants to get his life back??? He wants to get his life back? How close to the actual oil spill does this guy live??? Unreal...

He doesn't say it in the commercial. It was in response to something a reporter asked him. It was one of the BIGGEST Freudian Slips one could make. After that Freudian Slip, that's when they made the commercial.

It's obvious he really has no conscience about this. This situation is a major "inconvenience," making him work overtime, taking time away from his life.

Anderson Cooper was all over this commercial. BP spent millions of dollars to produce & air this commercial. Meanwhile many clean up crews have STILL not been paid for their work. Many contracts to put out equipment to contain the spill haven't been properly signed or paid for in WEEKS, so that stuff hasn't been put out. Yet BP can put out this commercial.

If BP really wants to apologise, they should do it in ACTIONS and behavior, not words.

 

[PatsMom]

I don't know if I've seen the particular commercial the OP is referring to but the BP bashing is getting old. I agree with the PP who said that no matter what they do, at this point someone will vilify them.

Do they need to take a chunk of the blame? Of course they do. But if I am following the press releases correctly, not one but three safety systems simultaneously failed. No one has made a credible allegation that they skimped on safety or did anything that caused the accident. They simply did not have a plan for containing a deep water problem of this type.

The results of the spill are tragic and I fear they will be with us for a long, long time. But part of the blame must go to all of us with our insatiable demands for petroleum based products. If there was no demand for the products, the expense of deep water drilling would not be justified.

I am also sickened by the news film of dead and damaged wildlife. The damage to the shoreline is horrendous. But I don't think you can put the blame soley on BP. JMHO.

 

[bicker]

BP has lots of things to worry about. The reality is that they cannot send their PR firm's employees out to fix the problem. They're just not qualified. It isn't clear whether the money spent on this commercial was money-already-spent (with their PR firm, as per an already-existing contract). If it is money-already-spent, then spending that money this way (instead of making regular commercials later, as originally planned, perhaps) was smart, and responsible. Don't judge the commercial without knowing the facts.

I do agree that the CEO does sound like a pretty insensitive person. However, even there, it is almost impossible to know a person reliably from just a few bits and pieces of exposure. People should invest their energies in expressing care, concern, and advocacy for those adversely affected by this, instead of investing their energies and crafting new and different attacks on BP or its CEO.

 

[Micca]

No. The commercial basically says, "We're sorry."

In a casual, off-hand remark, last week, the guy said that he wanted to get his life back. It wasn't a prepared remark, not in the slightest. He shouldn't have said it, and apologized for having said it, but no one should get the mistaken impression that that remark was the content of the commercial that BP is running.

BP is in a no-win situation, I'd hate to be in their PR department. I must admit it did occur to me that maybe BP should be spending money to hire people for cleanup rather than trying to "CYA" with expensive television time.
When they restore everything back to normal, THEN they could run spots thanking all the people who helped fix it and promise that it won't happen again. Hey...maybe I should be in PR

 

[sunnyday123]

Does anyone else think a better use of the money they used to make this commercial would be to put it towards the clean up??

 

[bicker]

Does anyone else think a better use of the money they used to make this commercial would be to put it towards the clean up??

Again, for as much as any of us know, that money was money already spent on an annual contract with their PR firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. At this point, it isn't clear whether any money spent on the commercial came from BP, versus funds already committed to their relationship with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. Beyond that, there is a $10 billion cap on liability, and even if that cap could possibly be lifted, total damages are estimated to go no higher than $31 billion. BP is still worth over $70 billion, even after their drop in market capitalization, so these few commercials very comfortably sit in that $39 billion cushion.

Energy expended on criticizing them for running these commercials is energy wasted.

 

[Anjelica]

I think people would find grievous fault in whatever BP did now, and with whatever BP didn't do now. If they apologize for the grievous harm they've caused, then people will bash them for it. If they don't say anything, then people will bash them for that. If the CEO apologizes for his insensitive casual comment, then people will bash them for that. If he doesn't apologize, then they'll bash them for that. And so on.

I don't know if I've seen the particular commercial the OP is referring to but the BP bashing is getting old. I agree with the PP who said that no matter what they do, at this point someone will vilify them.

Do they need to take a chunk of the blame? Of course they do. But if I am following the press releases correctly, not one but three safety systems simultaneously failed. No one has made a credible allegation that they skimped on safety or did anything that caused the accident. They simply did not have a plan for containing a deep water problem of this type.

The results of the spill are tragic and I fear they will be with us for a long, long time. But part of the blame must go to all of us with our insatiable demands for petroleum based products. If there was no demand for the products, the expense of deep water drilling would not be justified.

I am also sickened by the news film of dead and damaged wildlife. The damage to the shoreline is horrendous. But I don't think you can put the blame soley on BP. JMHO.

Totally agree!!! They are in a no-win situation. You would think by the way folks are relentlessly bashing BP that the executives purposefully did this.

It's a horrible ACCIDENT and I hope it gets under control soon. I am actually amazed that while we are dealing with loss of wildlife, etc. that there has been little talk since the intial accident of the 11 human lives lost.

 

[frndshpcptn]

Again, for as much as any of us know, that money was money already spent on an annual contract with their PR firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. At this point, it isn't clear whether any money spent on the commercial came from BP, versus funds already committed to their relationship with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. Beyond that, there is a $10 billion cap on liability, and even if that cap could possibly be lifted, total damages are estimated to go no higher than $31 billion. BP is still worth over $70 billion, even after their drop in market capitalization, so these few commercials very comfortably sit in that $39 billion cushion.

Energy expended on criticizing them for running these commercials is energy wasted.

Just to note - PR Firms (in general) don't create commercials. And GQR isn't a PR firm. It's a strategic research group that works with PR firms to help plan branding strategy and create a consumer message that gets folded into ad / pr campaigns. And they didn't do the apology ad.

BP (normally) works with WPP's O&M on thier corporate Ad campaigns, although its been reported they went to a DC-based shop called Purple Strategies for the "apology ads."

Industry rumor also has it that they's enlisted local Gulf area PR firms to assist and are working with Brunswick Group (BP's AOR) out of Britain on this from a PR perspective. There are a few DC based firms involved as well (to be expected) - this is a huge PR project and definitely not all worked by one agency.

And I've read they've suspended all current coporate advertising and are focusing all ad dollars right now on matters related to the spill.

 

[bicker]

Thanks for the details. I wonder if anyone but you and I would be interested in them though.

 

[SAHDad]

Thanks for the details. I wonder if anyone but you and I would be interested in them though.

Hey, this is the Internet, where facts don't matter!

 

[MAH4546]

It is unfortunate BP is getting such undeserved bad press. Accidents happen. The reality is that oil spills are a fact of life, they are going to happen. They would happen far less often if we didn't have unreasonable drilling restrictions, but so be it.

Here's a fact: BP is far more important to our economy and our nation than a) Gulf Coast beach resorts, b) fishermen; and c) fish.

Yes, I said it.

 

[AshleyW]

For those who haven't seen the commercial, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKcrDaiGE2s