British Petroleum is an oil company that has originally founded in 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. In 1954 it became known as the British Petroleum Company. In 2001 British Petroleum rebranded themselves as BP and adopted the tagline “Beyond Petroleum”. They would no longer be an oil company but an “energy” company. A new logo was adopted that looks like a flower or a sun, both very green icons.
Along with this rebranding, BP became a leader in the sustainability movement, publishing CSR reports and touting all the good things they have done. BP became the greenest of the oil, I mean energy, producers in the eyes of the public. But as they washed themselves with this green color things were happening behind the curtain. It all became exposed on April 20, 2010
On April 20 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, a semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig located south of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank two days later. The oil spill is already the largest in the world and there is no sign of the spill ending. This threatens not only sea life but the livelihood of fishermen and other businesses up and down the gulf coast. It is predicted that oil will enter the currents and eventually make its way up the east coast and towards Europe.
I could go on and on about the spill but there are many other people reporting on this so I will leave it to them. What I want to focus on is BP and their greenwashing.
In fairness, some of what BP did as far as sustainability goes was good but it didn’t reach into every part of their business and once the oil spill happened, everyone started looking for the skeletons in the closet. A few of them are:
2005 Texas City Refinery Explosion
15 people lost their lives and 180 people where injured in this accident. This came after some less serious accidents happened at the plant and management did not take care of it. Safety and maintenance had been cut as cost saving measures.
2006-2007 Prudhoe Bay
A number of incidents during this time which included leaks and spills polluting the ground water and violated the Clean Water Act.
There have been other incidents of fatalities and accusations of oil and propane price manipulation. BP was also known for overemphasizing their investments in alternative forms of energy and they fought safety regulations. Regulations that may have prevented, or lessened, the spill.
So what can you, the business person, learn from BP? They told a story about how committed to sustainability they were. It paid off in market share, brand awareness and untold millions in increased profit from this alone. Now they are under a greater microscope from investors, the public and the government. Not only things related to the oil spill but to every part of their business. The bill from the spill will be enormous but they have plenty of money. The damage from misleading the public about their green commitment might not be so easy to recover from.
You can’t just green your logo. It’s all or none.
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