MKT 345- Discussion 2

1. There are many responses that British Petroleum could have crafted in order to make an effective, lasting argument against their failed efforts for combating the oil spill in the Gulf. Even if the team at British Petroleum decided to go with a passive approach through searching, listening, and responding, they could have also incorporated active engagement, another strategy for success when engaging with an audience on social media (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). The parody accounts could have been approached as harassment or defamation, if British Petroleum would have handle their case properly. If they properly handled their own case through either passive or active methods, they could have easily proved their credibility and people throughout the media may not have perceived their response as such a joke. According to social media marketing ethics, it is vital to uphold honesty, privacy, respect, and responsibility throughout any and all approached etiquette in order to further reach the defined goals of a brand (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). Instead of allowing the media to entertain an audience with parody accounts, British Petroleum could have approached the whole situation differently from the start. Instead, they let their audience get ahead of their own tactics, only allowing their audience to corrupt their public reputation and image. At that point it was too late and they may have deserved the response that they received from the public.

2. In my opinion Tony Hayward’s apology, via YouTube, was below average at best. The problem with Hayward’s apology is that the apology was based off of “rhetorical techniques of propaganda and apologia to sell its message” (Beaty, 2011, p. ii); however, these are tactics that are widely renown and have been proven ineffective regarding authentic sincerity, among the very least. The YouTube video only added to the fuel of the public relations campaign that the company prolonged, launching a year after the crisis occurred. The video should have been created, if and only if Hayward was truly initiating a thorough communication tactic, sincere and apologetic in manner. Because Hayward did not directly address “the offender righting the wrong,” and more so focused on a video with a combination of a plead for forgiveness, among other apologia, the video should not have been published without the preconceived notion of a negative response (Beaty, 2011, p. 4). If Hayward would have attended to the situation with complete and honest disclosure, the response may have been different in the media; nonetheless, it was only British Petroleum that the world had to blame for the event and the response (Beaty, 2011, p. 26).

Ashley Butler

1. British Petroleum faced a huge public relations challenge with the occurrence of the oil spill.  In current times, there are many articles that surface when researching that of BP. However, it is to be mentioned that most of these articles displayed BP in a negative light rather than a positive one. In my opinion, BP could have handled the situation way differently than how they did. British Petroleum company would have been better off if they had developed, devised, and executed a strong social media strategy and presence before the incident occurred. This would have allowed the company to have a relationship with its follower base and make them aware of what they stand for. Instead of concentrating on damage control and making attempts to polish the image of the company, BP should have taken more of a straightforward approach and centered its attention on attacking the situation at hand rather than attempting to restrict the content of parody accounts. This action in my eyes essentially damaged their reputation even more. Rather than trying to silence critics, BP should have used social media to their advantage; by providing profound statements and being transparent. This would have probably limited the number of parodies produced in the long run. According to the textbook, the steps that could’ve been taken by BP in terms of handling the situations is by applying “the three A’s, Acknowledge, Apologize and Act” (Barker, Barker, Bormann, Zahay, & Roberts, 2017). All in all, I believe that BP should have owned up to the issue with the oil spill on the coast rather than spend money in efforts to fix their online reputation that eventually failed.

2. The former BP CEO Tony Hayward has apologized for this unfortunate occurrence of the oil spill on several occasions. There are videos of him, apologizing in court, in interviews, on social media, and in BP commercials. While watching Hayward’s videos, I felt as though the apologies were not sincere, and as such, the public was not moved by it. I thought his apologies were rather illegitimate. “I just want my life back!” (CNN, 2016) were some words exclaimed by Hayward in a video interview with CNN. I believe that if Hayward had acknowledged the severity of the issue that occurred and showed the people that were affected by all the things that he and his company will do to right his wrongs, I believe people would have been more empathetic. Even though YouTube was used to express Hayward’s apology, I believe as though it could have been used differently. Meaning, the platform could have been used to show efforts of cleaning up the mess the company made as well as producing videos taking full responsibility for the spillage. In my research, I found that;"nearly all-American consumers would be more loyal to a brand that is straightforward about its ingredients" (Audrey, 2020). With regards to BP, if they were straightforward and transparent about the issue at hand they would not have been in this predicament.