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
However, with that said. It’s important to monitor this account. Does it go beyond a joke, gain a following, and become defamatory? -
Defamatory as in it was their refusal to abide by safety regulations or to seal the well according to well established protocol which they fought with over Transocean who were finally bullied into capping the well in an unorthodox manner.
What do they expect BP has been feeding the media, the public and Government misinformation and Public Relations nonsense. So some people are angry as their beaches wetlands, marshes are polluted while others are losing their livelihood from the fisheries and tourism etc. BP has not said it will give the US government a couple of billion to pay for clean up.
Defamatory? such as what that they misrepresented the facts from day one. It was their fault the rig blew up and the leak is their fault. The mess is worse because they took no immediate measures to clean up or prevent oil from going a few miles beyond the Deepwater Horizon location. This is not just a matter of PR if these facts can be proven then there should be criminal charges laid.
It is CEO Mr. Hayward who called the leak insignificant and nothing to worry about and that it was just an accident one of those things ie stuff happens. Yes it does when you ignore the advice of experienced engineers.
I totally agree that BP messed up to begin with and they’re 100% in the wrong. Moral for BP? Create a good product and stop taking shortcuts.
None the less, how they handle this from a PR & marketing standpoint will most definitely be an interesting case study. We should use this as a lesson for ourselves on how to handle huge PR problems.
You’re an idiot and don’t know what you are talking about. This is an unfortunate accident and BP has taken full responsibility for the response. It’s a blessing that the accident happened to one of the most technological and financially sound companies in the world. There are many, many small companies operating in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico that would not have had the technical or financial resources to respond so powerfully.
I disagree that it shouldn’t be closed. Frankly, it’s completely misleading; it uses the BP logo and thus the likeness, and some moron (read: idiot) would probably think that some disgruntled BP employee is really trash talking his employer. Bottom line: it can create confusion. If the guy was using a different logo and username, it would be fine, but once you’re using the company’s likeness, you’re stepping on shaky ground.
I’m actually speaking not as the social media strategist that I am here, though. I’m speaking as someone who actually previously worked as a private investigator on trademark research and copyright matters. This is a big deal for them. BP legal would not want to ignore this.
To be honest, you’re right – what do they have to lose?
The problem is negative PR in aggregate. This is hardly the only negative thing going for BP right now. Joke or not, it’s still a major problem.
I think BP has other issues to deal with, don’t get me wrong. But the guy performing the joke is breaking trademark/copyright law, and from the legal side of things, it should be taken down. That doesn’t set a good precedent.
I don’t know that I agree with you Tamar (I usually do though!). I think that they just have too much to lose when their market is millions and only a few thousand know about the Twitter account. Also, after a few minutes of reading the stream, the average person would know it’s a joke. I think BP has a lot more to lose than gain by closing the account.
I have to agree with you on this Samir. I don’t think that BP should be acting to shut this account down…yet. I think if BP were to try and act on this it would just give the media one more thing to potentially talk about and ultimately could generate even more press around an already huge media frenzy.
If they shut it down and the media gets wind of it, I’m sure they’ll be out to talk to the individual about it. This would ultimately give someone who is clearly anti-BP a soapbox to complain about the disaster and BP.
This flipside of course goes back to what Tamar said; using an actual BP logo and likeness in account name could be VERY misleading for some and from a legal standpoint could be very problematic.
If it were me personally I would just monitor it. Not just on Twitter, but overall. Blogs like this one are obviously giving this account more exposure so I would be monitoring as many social outlets as possible that might reference this specific Twitter account. Sadly their official account doesn’t have “Verified Account” status, because that could potential clear up SOME confusion.
I would advise BP to not bring further attention to this joke account. However, given that the facts surrounding this environmental tsunami are in real-time, and still emerging, I would recommend that BP get much more active in monitoring the “conversation”, which is seething under the surface. I predict a dramatic increase by digital activists in speaking out via social networks and blogs, encouraging
citizens to “Stop” filling their tanks with BP gasoline, for example.
Watch closely.
When I wrote about the fake BP account on Saturday, it had 900 followers. Now more than 5,000 people follow it. I’m not sure if I’d change my advice. But perhaps I will if the account continues to grow at such a fast clip.
http://bit.ly/cxvwaC
Would you change your approach as the account continues to grow?
Um…how does Twitter capture Google search terms when they nofollow all of their links?
It definitely keeps growing, and now they’re selling t-shirts. I am really enjoying the account and hope it doesn’t disappear.
What I’m surprised about is that ease at which I and the BP account are able to rank for important BP PR terms in Google. It’s interesting that BP doesn’t have a content strategy to build and support their Twitter account. Also, the content strategy would have helped them capture the Google search terms that they should.
Sorry Fran, I didn’t mean to use Twitter to capture Google Search Terms – Instead they should use either their BP site, or a micro-site for the crisis to build their Twitter account in search results. For example, right now they don’t rank first for “BP Twitter” – why not? That’s definitely something they should fix asap.
I’ve been watching this account for the past 48 hours, and the viral nature of it’s growth is fascinating. It’s become a lightning rod for the intense hatred many people feel towards BP. This account is saying what they feel BP really thinks.
I’ve been following the search stream, and watching responses. It looks like 10-15% think it’s the real BP PR department. Reaction is swift and angry. Usually one of their twitter friends clues them in, and then there is an embarrassed tweet.
This data is fleeting, so I set up a Twapper Keeper account yesterday afternoon to capture these tweets. You can access it at http://bit.ly/bd9xQA There are currently 11,000 updates in the archive.
It’s absolutely gone viral. I saw it on the front page of Digg and Reddit and the numbers are growing very quickly. Thanks for the link Ed!
Thanks – please spread the word about the archive. Would love to see some good research from the data.
As an update everyone, looks like @bpglobalpr now has a Tumblr account – http://bpglobalpr.tumblr.com/
I always agree with you Samir but on this I have to agree with Tamar. Trademark research and copyright matters are something that BP could go after them for. What could they do? A lot… Is this person willing to abide by what the courts would implement or how much $ they would have to fork out if BP did decide to go after them? I would advise them to contact this person and see if they can work with them in order to soften the blow… but yeah, keep it live since people are able to voice their opinions and BP needs as much help and allies as they can get right now. I personally live down here so it’s really personal for me. I smell the oil in the air and we are already getting warning about boiling our water.
Bottom line they f*cked up bad, they should have had all safety features in place before they even THOUGHT of drilling. From plan A to plan Z. But that’s not what this post is about lolol I get it. I just wanted to put in my 2ç regarding that moron “commentator” unfortunate accident post. What a complete idiot. I bet he/she wouldn’t mind if it was in their front yard and they had to walk on beaches full of oil, dead turtles and fish. Oopss my bad…pffftt
Thanks Gab for the comment. I definitely think they’ve reached out to the team doing the parody bp account. The reason I say so is because suddenly the account icon changed to a different one than the bp logo.
You raise a very good point, about BP needing to walk a fine line.
I think that a “joke” like this is something that draws even more attention to the negative side of BP’s PR. I mean, you put up this post about it, and are getting our attention and commentary, it could get picked up on a more national scale via a news column especially if it’s gone to Reddit or Digg who would love an opportunity to promote a slam on BP.
I just noticed that a site selling a “BP cares” shirt has been mentioned multiple-times recently on that feed… Would adding profit from the “joke” make it futher cross the line in lawsuit/injunction world?
(Wow, your screenshot shows 1,200 followers, and now it’s up to 26,670 !)
BP has bigger battles to fight in terms of trying to protect its reputation. This is another David and Goliath situation like Nestle’s. BP’s focus in rightly on the oil spill, but has failed to fathom the significance of the spill: It is not just an oil spill — it is a global environmental catastrophe. Understanding that, BP can then try to act accordingly. BP also should be prepared for other paradies that may be a lot more vicious.
It definitely has grown big time. It’s on the front page of Buzzfeed now and was on both Digg and Reddit earlier. It’s going viral and I don’t think there’s much BP can do now. I wonder if BP will find a way to work with the parody account or will continue to bump heads.
This is obviously not the first time a joke Twitter account has caused issues like this, but considering how current the situation with BP is it’s obviously worse than past similar occurrences.
Regarding the fact that BP was been preventing press access to some of the affected areas, and the bad press already revolving around this situation, I think I’d have to agree with the advice on BP not doing anything about this account at present.
It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out in the next few days, if the account continues to get media coverage then maybe Twitter themselves will be forced to take action against it.
Listen up here is a chance to tell BP what to do. I found this site and i am telling everyone. Get BP’s attention http://www.whatshouldbpdo.com