Should You Boycott BP? The Media Says "No"!
According to "Proud to Buy BP," a strange Tumblr that supports the "bravery" of folks filling up their cars at BP pumps, today's Miami Herald claims that BP franchises have "no closer relationship to the crude oil company than" they do "to Coca-Cola." (Which means… the franchises… buy BP's product and resell it, just like Cokes, we're pretty sure!) So, you protesters and boycotters? You're just destroying one franchisee's American dream, not actually hurting BP, according to the media. BP gas stations just buy their gas from "a distributor," and then only pay "some money" back to BP. All over the country, the media is explaining this! Okay so, sarcasm aside… over the last couple years, BP closed down all its company-owned stations, laying off nearly 12,000 people in 2009 alone across the organization in total. Their annual report phrased this as "the transfer of our US convenience retail sites to a franchise model." So all of the 11,000 or so BP stations in the U.S. are essentially franchises now-and they actually do represent a not-at-all-huge part of the company's income. But things get tricky when you let CNN explain this to you, in the very small words they like to use.
Their story goes like this:
Moreover, BP doesn't solely provide gasoline to its franchises.According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, purchasing gasoline from a given company does not mean the gasoline was produced by that particular company's refineries.
After oil companies such as BP extract crude oil from the ground, it is sent to the company's refineries to be refined into gasoline. The gasoline is then sent through shared pipelines or shipped in batches to storage terminals.
Anyone who wants to retail gasoline, such as grocery chains, can purchase this gasoline from BP's terminals as "unbranded" gasoline. It only becomes "branded" when BP injects its own additives into the gasoline, which is then sold to retailers
So it doesn't solely provide the gasoline, and then, oh, wait, their branded gasoline is actually "sold to retailers." Boy is that not helpful.
Also franchisees pay a 5 to 6 % royalty fee to BP during their 20-year contracts.
In the end, what do you do? I dunno? But, no matter what the real-world math is, I could no sooner bring myself to buy gas from a BP pump these days than I could fill up my car from crude floating up the beach.
We've got to cut back on our consumption of Coca Cola if we want to reduce our carbonation footprint.
lo, great minds!
So, when I waddle my fat ass inside the convenience store to buy a 65oz. Coke, what comes out of the fountain is actually RC; but it has an added flavor composition designed by Coke so it's still just plain old Coke then?
I love RC and hope there will be a forthcoming viral RCING campaign for bros and their hos.
you just got CROWNED, BRO
That CROWNING was so good I need to unwind with a candy cigarette.
Would you prefer a Victory, or a Stallion?
I'm in a Westerny mood so I'd love a Round Up.
Remain calm! All is well!
It was all in the well. Now that Pelican over there is wearing it.
The pelican should actually be thanking BP, as its greasy state renders it much harder to catch to its natural predators and less tasty to the palate. About time we started see the well as half full, I say.
The Pelican Grief
http://www.pelikan.com
Those pelicans are an albatross around BP's neck.
Be a pelican, not a pelican't.
Pelidunno.
¡Peligro!
Each of BP's brands has its own "heritage and personality"! Brands include Castrol, am/pm stores and ARCO.
http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9&contentId=7046348
i've cut out the middle man. my car runs on sea turtles.
Using a tumblr to shame people who shop at BP, peeing on stations, and THIS SHITSTORM: "In Charlotte, Dixon's group is protesting not just the recent oil spill, but also other perceived injustices by BP, including the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian government. The group will also be protesting the recent Israeli raid on the Gaza aid flotilla."
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/06/12/1494818/protesters-are-expected-at-cotswold.html
Clicked submit too early. It is all in keeping with our tendency toward loud, obnoxious, and futile gestures that allow us to feel like we're "doing something" without having to make difficult choices and/or sacrifices.
Mumia something something! Keep your Goldman Sachs off of my body!
Finally, a protest over the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian government. It's about damn time.
And the inability of the left to focus. Free Mumia!
The shared pipelines / batching / reselling all means that basically any petroleum or petroleum-based product you buy could come from / direct profits to BP. So, you know… the only solution is to use less oil (slinks away)
First: this seems like a highly abstract/academic question for anyone who doesn't need to commute by car.
I have concluded that minimizing my use of fuel is far more important and productive than boycotting BP gas stations. (In other words: no change in behavior.) Given my commute, driving to a non-BP gas station would be unjustifiably inefficient, and purely symbolic. I drive slow, keep the trunk empty, the tires full, and telecommute on Fridays.
I wish there were a bumper sticker to mitigate my embarrassment, something that says, "This 11-year-old car still gets 33 mpg, and the other commuter in our household uses the bus. And what have you done to support regional rapid transit? Don't judge me!!!"
My bumper sticker reads, "My other car has the witty bumper sticker."
My bumper sticker reads: "Visualize whirled peas"
My bumper sticker reads: "Dyslexics are teople poo"
My other car's bumper sticker reads, "667 THE NEIGHBOR OF THE BEAST"
My car has a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker which I was too lazy to scrape off.
"My other ride is your mom."
@charismatic: Indeed. For many where a BP station is the only nearby option, driving miles out of the way, and consequently INCREASING gas usage, to boycott BP is ridiculous.
"It may not be the Mayflower, but your daughter came across in it"
I'm joining the NRA and the ACLU just so I can put both bumper stickers on my car.
Maybe the NAACP, too. Have I missed anything?
teabaggers?
@Gef: NRBQ
NAMBLA
This is something I got into a facebook argument about. The reality is that boycotting BP is mostly brand, not direct financial, damage. Since they may still get money when you buy gas from a non-BP station, this makes a direct boycott pretty futile!
The reality is that there's so much corporate distance between the drilling of oil and the purchasing of gas that boycotting them is going to be very hard for a regular old consumer – just as it'd be hard for us to boycott a mining conglomerate.
In reality, you're just fucking the small business owners who run the stations. If you don't want to buy gasoline, ride your bike. (Which I encourage!)
I have started a petition asking Sesame Street to boycott the letters B and P. And the number 11. And to fire that slut Abby Cadabby. You know what you did, Cadabby!
boycotting BP stations is misled. beside the reasons above any serious damage to BP's bottom line COULD cause the company to claim an inability to repay for damages down the road not to mention the fact that hurting BP in large part hurts British pensioners who rely on BP dividends for nearly 18% of all their income.
I find the "don't do it because it hurts British shareholders" argument baffling.
First, British and American shareholders each own about 40% of BP, so it's not like we're doing something to screw a foreign country.
And second, if you own shares in an oil company – just as if you owned shares in an arms manufacturer or Goldman Sachs – you take the risk that their shoddy business practices and generally unsavory nature might eventually come back and bite them (and hence your investment) on the ass. It's not like this was an accounting scandal where a small group of insiders screwed the company to everyone's shock (say, Enron or WorldCom): this was an oil company known for cutting corners, now in exactly the sort of trouble you'd think cutting corners with oil extraction could lead to.
That said, boycotting the individual station franchisees is hurting the wrong people, as everyone here seems to already know. But screw anyone who reaps years of dividends and share appreciation and then complains when we make the company pay to clean up its own mess.
The latter argument doesn't hold much water with me. British pensioners have benefited from nice dividends because the BP puts the interests of its stockholders above safety and environmental protection. Time to pay the price, granny.
Ohai, astigmatism.
@astig: Oh, I AGREE. My point is more that many think of a BP boycott as something that hurts the rich "fat cats" and wall streeters and oil baron executives etc etc etc. And that's not really the case.
If you want to hurt fat cats, take away their Tender Vittles. But the worst fate facing the actual guys running BP is that they might spend the next 30 years retired at their villa in Majorca, as opposed to running a company in London.
it would be so awesome if this oil spill led to massive boycotting of the oil industry, though. Like carpools, biodiesel conversion fairs, public transit stuffed with people. you may say that I'm a dreamer…
you're not the only one.
bb > bp
also: solar-powered airplanes! high speed rail (from wind power)! smarter urban planning!
I just hope nothing happens to a Costco off shore well.
QUICK- PUT OUT THE BOOMS, WE'VE GOTTA CATCH EVERY LAST CHICKEN BAKE ROLL WE CAN SALVAGE
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE. THE CASES OF KIRKLAND SPRING WATER ARE GOING TO BE RUINED. RUINED!!!
"HAVE YOU TRIED OUR NEW TORTASTIC LOGGER HEAD TURTLE STRUDELS? THEY GREAT WITH A DASH OF OIL."
THE PELICANS PRACTICALLY ROTISSERIE THEMSELVES.
As long as my car is a Saab or a Volvo I can fill it with whatever I want, right? 'cause it's negated.
My Prius runs on seal oil.
So you can't express your frustration at BP by boycotting their stations. And we shouldn't fine them too much because it will cause BP employees to loose jobs. And don't say anything bad about them because that will cause stock prices to drop and small investors will suffer. And on and on and on.
So what can we do? Nothing, we are told. Just shut up, buy the gas and if you absolutely must, you may send BP a strongly worded email. That is all! Continue.
You can return to making great movies. That would make us all feel a little better.
I really really hope that is actually Eric Stoltz. And can you get me Mary Stuart Masterson's phone #?
oh, I just realized it must suck to have the same name as a (former) movie star. sorry.