What Should BP do About This Twitter Account?
Want proof that social media and public relations overlap? I’d like you to meet @BPGlobalPR on Twitter.
It’s a joke account that someone made and hopefully isn’t associated with BP itself. This account could become an issue for the brand and something the company’s PR department must recognize and monitor.
This could have been a really bad situation online for BP if they hadn’t already created a social media presence. However, they were smarter than that and already created a BP America account and are using it…
But, the joke Twitter profile could be a bad thing, or is it? What would you do? Would you do anything?
A Potential Idea
I wouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t try to get Twitter to close it, I’d let it be, and let it run it’s course. Right now, it’s just a joke – do something and it could be a lot worst.
There’s already been stories about BP stopping reporters from covering the effects of the oil spill on the beaches, shutting down a Twitter profile can only lead to bad PR.
However, with that said. It’s important to monitor this account. Does it go beyond a joke, gain a following, and become defamatory?
At that point it might be worth revisiting the strategy and determining if it’s time to try and pull attention from the joke Twitter account to the real one.
What do you think? How would you handle these situations? What should BP do now?
Thanks to Dave Surgan for giving me a tip on the fake BP Twitter account
