BP Facebook Boycott And BP Twitter - PR Setback Won't Hurt Profits

As the gulf of Mexico oil spill 2010 continues unabated, a "boycott BP" movement driven by social media is gathering steam. With a bogus BP Twitter account, Humorists are using social media to affect BP's reputation. Selling like crazy are BP oil like parody products such as t-shirts. But although BP is living a public relations nightmare, analysts say the giant oil business will see little effect on its profits.

Resource 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 say purchasing gas from other brands would hit the oil company really bad, 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 website. Consumers are told to take their online cash advance other places to get gas by a Facebook boycott group called Boycott BP with more than 75,000 members. But convenience may trump the act of signing a pledge online. 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.

BP Twitter account goes rogue

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 that the fake BP Twitter page had 42,000 followers. You will find only 5,700 on BP's real Twitter account, @BP_America. The bogus 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. Some fan favorites from the Twitter page contain:

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.

The real hit is the BP gas station owners

A lot more than global petroleum behemoth, BP gas station owners can be hit by all of this. CNNMoney.com reports that BP does not own the 11,500 gas stations that carry its logo. Independent franchises own the BP gas stations. Last year nearly 42 million gallons of gas per day were pumped by these gas stations. 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 purchase gas doesn't mean that someone else won't. BP, which generated sales last year of about $240 billion, told CNN it has seen no effect from any boycott efforts.

Citations

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