Chado-Design.com

In the wake of the worst oil spill in US history, British Petroleum (BP) has taken a unique and dangerous public relations stance; they are not apologizing.  Their website’s emphasis is on the cleanup rather than detailing what and who exactly caused the spill. Rather than a heartfelt apology their website’s lead story is reporting that over 2,500 personnel are involved in the response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Their no apology strategy continues with a quote from CEO Tony Hayward who explained, “BP is fully committed to taking all possible steps to contain the spread of the oil spill” but failed to offer an apology. Their position seems to be that it isn’t all BP’s fault. On the Today show, Hayward explained to Meredith Viera that “it wasn’t our fault but we are absolutely responsible for the oil and committed to cleaning it up”. Instead of being held accountable for the accident BP has decided to point the finger at Transocean, the offshore driller that BP has partnered with. This isn’t a very good public relations policy. For one, if you contract with someone like they have with Transocean, you are responsible for their actions. Also, trying to shift the blame and get off on a technicality makes BP look much worse than if they would simply apologize and accept responsibility. BP has had a very public, long running campaign promoting itself as a relatively green company and seeming both unapologetic and unprepared for the catastrophe is turning into a public relations nightmare. Only time will tell but the “we’re not to blame but we will clean up the mess” strategy seems to be ineffective.