Plugged-in public relations professionals everywhere have watched the BP crisis with a watchful and analytical eye. The justified global public outrage – and the response (albeit very delayed) in the form of corporate reputation advertisements, press conferences and cause marketing partnerships – is textbook and predictable crisis communications.
However, what’s not textbook –nevermind anticipated – was the successful impersonation of the BP public relations team through social media.
Shortly after the oil spill that rocked our nation and quickly destroyed an ecosystem in the Gulf, a Twitter account called @BPGlobalPR emerged. However, anyone could tell within reading 1-2 posts that BP wasn’t behind the Twitter account. Instead, an anonymous tweeter successfully reserved the handle BPGlobalPR to offer daily sarcastic and biting commentary to mock BP and its handling of the spill aftermath. No detail was spared in creating an elaborate mockery of BP. A faux spokesman, @BPTerry, who (naturally) only cares about profits and vacation homes, was introduced to the hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. Parody T-shirts reading “BP Cares” are also available for purchase from the Twitter page.
Here is a sample of the tweets:
“Safety is our primary concern. Well, profits, then safety. Oh, no ... profits, image, then safety, but still ... it’s right up there. “
“It’s hurricane season now. Don’t worry! We’ve planned for that just as well as we’ve planned for everything else!”
“Just got 100k followers and our oil is headed to Florida. You know what this means…WE’RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!”
“BP Rule: Whoever smelt it, dealt it. Gulf coast residents, do you smell oil? THEN CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES!”
As I write today, @BPGlobalPR has more than 185,000 followers – and that number is growing by the day. The real BP, @BP_America has just over 17,000. It’s pretty clear who has the microphone.
The lessons learned? First, if BP had reacted swiftly, directly and more honestly with its communication through traditional media channels such as newspapers, television and radio, @BPGlobalPR wouldn’t have nearly enough material to sustain itself for months -- let alone collect 185,000 willing listeners along the way. Second, if an organization doesn’t have a social media strategy plan that includes harnessing the power of social media to quickly effectively respond to devastating crisis situations, someone can (and will) speak for it using the global-reaching soapboxes of Facebook, Twitter and blogs. While BP never could have predicted the hijacking of their PR department’s persona, they certainly could have reduced the power of their faceless foe with an earlier crisis response.