Analyzing the BP Oil Spill Campaign Advertisement
The well-known BP
oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico leaked approximately 210 million gallons
of oil into the sea from April 2010 through September 2010. According to president Obama’s released speech on June 15, 2010 “The millions of gallons of
oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one
that we will be fighting for months even years,” (Obama) . The 2010 BP
Deepwater Horizon Oil spill is considered the largest environmental disaster that
America has ever seen and has left families, the fishing industry, tourism,
wildlife, coastal areas and beaches devastated (Obama, The White House President Barack. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-nation-bp-oil-spill. 15 June 2010.) .
Today BP and other parties are working on restoring the GULF coast to a better environmental
and economically thriving area then it once was. (Keirnan, Tom. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-kiernan/three-years-later-gulf_b_3109875.html. 18 April 2013. 2 December 2015.) BP has created a
campaign advertisement called Gulf of Mexico Restoration, http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-mexico-restoration.htmlhttp://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-mexico-restoration.html
attempting to show how they have worked towards repairing the Gulf Cost to a better
state then it was prior to the oil leak, however it is too soon to know the
long term outcome of the environment. (BP)
This
advertisement is effective in logically displaying monetary contributions and
claim payments with lists, dates, payments, charts and maps made these
attributes of the ad clear and simplistic. BP attempts to make a connection by
drawing attention to their colors surrounding positive photos of a healthier
gulf by outlining the monetary contributions in green and yellow BP colors to
display their significant efforts, however when you do further research on the
status of the clean-up project BP desperately tried to minimize fines and get
out of maximum environmental penalties. BP is stating in many places throughout
the ad that they have restored the state of the local economy, fishing and the
Gulf’s natural areas to a better state then it was in prior to the spill, but
once you start to poke around the internet this is truly not the case. BP is
not off the hook yet as it is just too soon to know what the long term affects
will be. (NPR) BP illogically
contradicts their own ad by publicly pleading against the maximum environmental
fines in court. (Abrams, Linsay. http://www.salon.com/2014/11/17/bp_tries_once_more_to_get_out_of_paying_full_gulf_oil_spill_penalties/. 17 November 2014.)
The ethical appeals of the add is conventional and attempts to reach the appeal of the audience by displaying knowledge of the state of the gulf costal economy and suggesting they are effective in restoring the coast to a better state it was in prior to the oil spill. The photos of the fisherman talking with what appears to be a support person in the ad is attempting to connect with the locals by pointing out how the company has longevity with the affected coastal states. This ad points out that the company has had a presences since 1950 and has 8000 employees in the affected areas and this makes the ad more approachable to the audience. This add is geared for earning trust and rebuilding their reputation with the target audience that BP is environmentally responsibility. BP strategically is backing their mistake with pointing out how BP’s money has contributed to each effected state to get the cleanup done, however current supplemental texts suggests that BP is attempting to get out of paying the maximum fine since they have already contributed so much to the community
BP
attempts to display that they are ethically responsible by dedicating a page of
the ad explaining the tragedy that occurred in full detail. The company is
attempting to take responsibility and is displaying publicly the mess they
made. The ethical appeal of this ad is
displayed significantly by outlining exactly what went wrong and how they
responded. (BP) http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/deepwater-horizon-accident.htmlhttp://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/deepwater-horizon-accident.html.
Ethically BP is trying to save their public image and has geared their focus on
displaying their efforts in repairing tourism, fishing and becoming a safer
company to prevent future disasters. Throughout the ad they mention their
commitment to repairing the Gulf and this expresses that they have been around
for a long time, and that they have taken responsibility for their actions and
intend on sticking around to see the clean-up complete.
Although BP has been penalized with the highest environmental fine
possible and has already contributed millions, emotionally the ad is lacking, because there is just no way to prove
the long term effects of this disaster and no way to capture in an internet ad
anything significant enough to show how they have contributed to the clean-up. The
advertisement appears to be lacking an emotional connection because it is not
identifying or pinpointing any photos in the ad that can express the clean-up
efforts in comparison to the photos you can find if you just google the effect
of this tragedy and compare. The photos displayed are not identifying before
and after photos with locations or dates. There is a disconnect in the
emotional appeal of this add because the devastation caused to the Gulf,
wildlife and humanity surrounding the Gulf. The internet is laced with heart
wrenching photos of the effects from the spill. https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+the+BP+oil+spill+2010&rlz=1T4RVEB_enUS627US628&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj66Leo2MDJAhUIm4MKHZySAX4QsAQIHA&biw=1600&bih=721.
All of the photography in the add show coastal environments in a state that is
thriving and this will appeal to the emotions of anyone interested in seeing
the progress being done by BP. This add is ineffective in displaying any
emotional connections with the humanity and nature because all the photos
appear to be after clean up, have no identification of location or explanation
as to why the photo is displayed. The photos are not displaying the before and
after affects and does not connect the photos with a specific area that has
been repaired. The emotional connection is not made with the audience because
there is nothing to even measure an outcome because it is just too early to say (NPRNPR. http://www.npr.org/2015/04/20/400374744/5-years-after-bp-oil-spill-effects-linger-and-recovery-is-slow. 21 April 2015.) .
While
I agreed with the rhetoric of this ad upon first glance and appreciated the use
of logical and ethical appeals, I noticed issues with the lack of emotional
connection. BP logically attempts to display their effort
in repairing the Gulf by outlining projects completed and underway, however BP
is contradicting everything they are ethically claiming to be dedicated to by
opposing the maximum environmental fine. BP emotionally is not able to touch or
make a connection due to the effects from the devastation caused to the gulf
from the tragedy. The ad is lacking a connection with the clean-up efforts, it
is too soon to evaluate the long term effects of the BP oil spill.
Beltra, Danial. PHOTOGRAPHY RETREIVED FROM"https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5346c6ececad04dd5555604a-1200/beltra20100506oilspill1024jpg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.crafthubs.com/gulf-oil-disaster-photography/12608&h=800&w=1200&tbnid=tHi9h7rsT7z9rM:&docid=a."
n.d. www.crafthub.com.
