an overview of the

BP crisis from a
communications
perspective

created by
liri andersson and this fluid world
jonathan macdonald
this document covers the key events,
from a communications perspective,
taking place during the first two months
of the BP crisis*

we do not intend to pass judgment, nor

comment on the actions of any party involved

we feel deeply for the lives affected by this

horrific disaster

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*a bibliography of cited sources can be found at the end of this document
the Deepwater Horizon, owned by
Transocean Ltd., was under contract
with BP to drill an exploratory well

together they were in the process of

temporarily closing it in anticipation of
returning to commercial production
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april 20th 9.46pm – the Deepwater
Horizon drilling rig explodes off the
Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico

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the coast guard responds with a search-
and-rescue mission. 115 workers are
rescued, 16 of which are injured
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11 are missing, presumed dead
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 24th – the first communication from
april BP is a practical one, estimating the leak
at 1000 barrels/day

27th – the first tweet from BP (in capitals):

“BP PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT FOR
DEEPWATER HORIZON” with a link to a press
release

28th – BP announce underestimating spill by

a factor of five

30th – BP CEO, Tony Hayward

tells Reuters “This was not our accident”.
this is the CEO’s 1st communication
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1st
– on the new BP.com ‘Gulf of Mexico
may
response’ page, BP updates on relief effort
and contact numbers whilst the NY Times
creates an ‘Oil Spill Tracker’ to view
predictions and actual spread

3rd – Hayward admits liability and announces

that BP will pay for the cleanup and any
legitimate legal claims

15th – Hayward says on Sky news “The impact

will be very, very modest…the ocean is very
big and the oil we’re putting into it is tiny”
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 may
16th – @BPGlobalPR, a parody twitter account,
opens with the tweet: “We regretfully admit
that something has happened off of the Gulf
Coast. More to come”

18th – Hayward flies home to celebrate his 54th

birthday with his family

20th – BP forced by legislators to stream live

webcam footage of leak from ocean floor

21st – Greenpeace protesters take action this fluid world

 may
24th – Toby Odone (BP spokesman) when asked
about @BPGlobalPR tells AdAge: “People are
frustrated at what's happening, as are we,
and that's just their way of expressing it.
People are entitled to their views on what
we're doing and we have to live with those"

31st – Hayward proclaims: “I want my life back”

31st – an unofficial logo re-design contest

goes live whilst @BPGlobalPR has 100,000
followers. its author writes an ‘Open letter to
the media’ (which goes viral instantly) this fluid world
 @BPGlobalPR’s
Open letter to the media (excerpt)

"I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been

going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer
were bullshit PR statements.  No solutions, no
urgency, no sincerity, no nothing.  That’s why I decided
to relate to the public for them. 

I started off just making jokes at their expense with a

few friends, but now it has turned into something of
a movement.  People are sharing billboards, music,
graphic art, videos and most importantly,
information”

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logo & slogan as used by @BPGlobalPR
by the end of may it is estimated that
779,000 barrels (32.7 million gallons) of oil
may
has been released

the 1989 spill of the Exxon Valdez tanker

released 250,000 barrels (10.8 million
gallons) of oil into Prince William Sound off
Alaska's coast

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june 1st – President Obama: “BP will be held
accountable for financial losses from
the greatest environmental disaster of
its kind in our history”

1st – the Mozilla Firefox ‘black oil’ plugin

released: all mentions of BP on the web
can now be covered in ‘black oil’

1st – the ‘Boycott BP’ facebook page has

233,000 fans, the official BP pages have
18,000. @BPGlobalPR (parody) has 125,000
followers and @BP_America (official) has
10,000
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june 1st – stock price falls by another 15%
meaning a fall of c.30% in 43 days.
$62.7 billion of valuation has been wiped out
at this point

2nd – Hayward admits being “Not

prepared” (in relation to the leak)

2nd – Stephen Fry tweets the logo re-design

competition to 1.53million followers

2nd – @BPGlobalPR sells $10,000 of

‘BP cares’ t-shirts and donates all proceeds
to the recovery mission
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june 2nd – 134 entries into the unofficial logo re-
design contest from amateur and
professional designers

2nd – Titanic & Avatar Film producer James

Cameron offers equipment and technology
support which is instantly turned down.
Cameron says to press:
“Those morons don’t know
what they’re doing”

2nd – environmental groups include the

Crisis Commons, Wildlife Federation and the
New Orleans Foundation all using social media
and mobile apps for recovery support
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june 3rd – Hayward: "I made a hurtful and
thoughtless comment on Sunday when I said
that 'I wanted my life back'. When I read that
recently, I was appalled. I apologise, especially
to the families of the 11 men who lost their
lives in this tragic accident.”

4th – Huffington Post reports BP using Google

to manipulate public opinion

6th – BP issue a press release that a new

approach is capturing 10,500 barrels
in 24 hours (1/2 estimated leak rate)

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the rest is history

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if you would like to find out more about this fluid world please contact us
or visit www.thisfluidworld.com

liri andersson jonathan macdonald

liri@thisfluidworld.com jonathan@thisfluidworld.com

this fluid world

bibliography
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144339

http://www.propublica.org/article/congressmen-raised-concerns-about-bp-safety-in-months-before-gulf-spill

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/conversation-twitters-satirical-bp-star-10849258Don't

http://mashable.com/2010/06/09/bpglobalpr-changes-bio

http://mashable.com/2010/06/02/social-media-gulf-oil-spill/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/bp-gulf-oil-spill-timeline.php

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/50/386/Timeline_of_Events_in_BP_Oil_Spill:_Day_by_Day,_April_20_to_May_26.html

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/40/435/A_Timeline_of_the_BP_Oil_Spill_Crisis_Pics.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264721101985024.html

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100529/COLUMNISTS20/5300320/Notes+form+Washington+%7C+BP+oil+spill+washes+up+on+the+shores+of+politics

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37444105/ns/gulf_oil_spill/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-BP/119101198107726

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BP/120558271299539

http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/

http://www.businessinsider.com/bps-crisis-pr-strategy-unprepared-inefficient-and-incomprehensive-2010-5

http://adage.com/poll?poll_id=212

http://adage.com/article?article_id=143663

http://www.ogilvypr.com/en/case-study/bp

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7804922/BP-chief-Tony-Hayward-sold-shares-weeks-before-oil-spill.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/business/media/07link.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/1644053/infographic-of-the-day-what-the-heck-is-a-relief-well-bp-explains

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bibliography
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2010/05/28/bps-logo-redesigned/

http://mashable.com/2010/06/05/top-10-twitter-trends-this-week-chart-4/?

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/05/28/Brand-News-052810AM.aspx

http://danwin.com/thoughts/bp-and-the-truth/

http://www.fastcompany.com/1651496/greenpeace-to-the-world-give-us-your-best-meaning-your-worst-bp-logo?

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/06/04/bps-spill-plan-leaks.html

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5722166-british-petroleum-the-scum-of-the-earth

http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/oil-spill-pictures/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704025304575285000265955016.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bitedaily/the-bp-oil-spill-re-enacted-by-cats-in-1-minute-18op/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7129204.ece

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/06/bp-oil-related-buys/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/bp-gulf-oil-spill-timeline.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-03/obamas-oil-spill-fashion/

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700038165/USOCs-BP-connections-concern-Olympic-athletes.html

http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam

http://news1.newsmax.com/bpspill/?PROMO_CODE=9F59-1&gclid=CKzd-rr9_KECFZqX2Aod6WGMEA

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/50/386/Timeline_of_Events_in_BP_Oil_Spill:_Day_by_Day,_April_20_to_May_26.html

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-07/bp-disaster-shows-a-profit-buying-2018-oil-while-selling-spot.html

http://wireupdate.com/wires/6022/company-says-time-is-now-for-bp-to-reach-out-for-help/

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/40/435/A_Timeline_of_the_BP_Oil_Spill_Crisis_Pics.html

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/7358989/bp-faces-another-tough-week-despite-well-progress/

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/
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bibliography
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacqueline-leo/bp-using-google-to-manipu_b_598677.html

http://adage.com/article?article_id=143663

http://www.rfistudios.com/blogs/left-brain/2010/05/for-bp-crisis-management-in-social-media-is-as-slippery-as-oil.html

http://www.wallblog.co.uk/2010/05/26/bp-beaten-in-social-media-stakes-by-fake-tweets/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20006199-36.html

http://adage.com/article?article_id=144062

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6520X020100603

http://socialistworker.org/2010/06/03/catastrophe-waiting-to-happen

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/bp-media-clampdown-no-pho_n_598119.html

http://www.logomyway.com/contestView.php?contestId=1746

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100603/sc_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentbpbritain&a=Science%20News&x=1

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/bp-twitter-satirist-donates-10-000-for-gulf-oil-spill-relief/19501125/

http://mashable.com/2010/06/02/social-media-gulf-oil-spill/

http://blogs.hbr.org/corkindale/2010/06/five_lessons_in_leadership_fro.html

http://www.briansolis.com/2010/07/oil-spill-report-bp-and-white-house-sentiment-spills-onto-twitter/

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/147/fast-talk-patricia-menezes.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/1679502/investors-to-oil-companies-prove-that-youre-prepared-for-disaster

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