When BP spells "Bad Press"

A very important part of PR is crisis management: knowing how to deal with the fallout from a major disaster or scandal. The PR people at BP are, no doubt, working night and day to try to get information out about the devastating oil spill. From what I have seen all the correct steps seem to have been taken, the response has been swift and transparent with constant website updates, press conferences and news releases. One tool that BP decided to employ to keep stakeholders in the loop was a real time video of the oil gushing into the ocean. See it here: http://www.livestream.com/oilspill

How smart was this decision? The thought of thousands of litres of oil damaging the environment is sickening enough, but to actually see it happening in real time is infuriating. Streaming video is without a doubt a powerful tool if used correctly, but this video is nothing but evidence of the harm big oil companies can do to our environment and a display of BPs ineptitude.

If BP wanted to show stakeholders what was going on, perhaps they could have gone for a streaming video of the hundreds of vessels on site trying to clean up the mess. Instead all we see is oil pumping into the ocean. A bad PR decision by a company whose credibility right now is lower than that ocean floor leak.