BP - Absolute Worst Public Relations Savvy in History of Human Enterprise

This, and all the other BP public image foul-ups, deserves its own thread. BP CEO Tony Hayward took the weekend of to go to a yacht race. A YACHT RACE!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100619/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

Dude, wtf?

 

I heard he took the World Cup ref with him to the race today.

 

Of course Obama doesn't come out of that article looking much better than this goof ball.

But yeah, BP is doing things only a Hollywood script writer could dream up in terms of stupidity.

I mean company spokesmen trying to defend Hayward by claiming he hasn't had any free time since the oil rig exploded to spend with his family most certainly fell on the sympathetic ears of the family members of those 11 killed in the explosion and of all of those fishermen now out of work.

 

Couldn't the guy have gone to a JV softball game or something like that to relax?

 

Tony Hayward's Sunday to-do list:

* Ocean fishing
* Tanning on a pristine beach
* Swamp boat tour and bird watching in an undisturbed wetland
* Oyster & shrimp seafood feast

 

So what's the standard and who does it apply to?

Obama is allowed to take vacations and go to baseball games, but Hayward can't go to a yacht race?

I'll admit that it's bad PR and that a yacht race sounds just incredibly hoity toity, but once the administration criticizes this move, they've drawn a line in the sand.

Comments like this are going to haunt them the next time Obama plays golf, attends a game, or hosts a team at the White House while the oil is still leaking:

Emanual should have been smart enough to let others criticize Hayward, but he couldn't help himself.

 

Dude, a yacht race?!?! Boats, sailors, people enjoying clean seas and an unaffected coastline?!?! Go to the opera, the ballet, a Broadway show, a baseball game. Anything but a damn yacht race and you probably stay off the news.

ETA:

The equivalent for Obama would have been going to vacation in a Haitian resort in the immediate aftermath of the Haiti earthquake -- IF OBAMA HAD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CAUSING THE EARTHQUAKE!

 

Probably true. But what's the standard now, and who does it apply to?

 

You mean Obama wasn't responsible for the earthquake?

 

How about this for a standard: if the company you're the CEO of, that grossly negligently causes the worst environmental disaster in the history of the United States, ruining the sea, beaches, wetlands, and economic viability of an entire region, then don't be seen enjoying the very thing you robbed that region of, at least not while the oil is still gushing out at 60k+ barrels a day.