Boycott BP?

[garybeck]

Just out of interest I googled "Boycott BP" and surprisingly didn't come up with much other than a facebook page.

For years I have avoided Exxon because of the Valdeze and I still do. Why not boycott BP now?

I realize they are not the root of the problem. The whole industry is negligent and this was inevitable. And maybe they are at least pretending to try to clean it up.

A boycott might not put BP out of business. It might not get the industry to change. But maybe it could scare the other oil companies into putting some of those safety latches on their wells. And even when boycotts are not affecting direct change, sometimes they are an effective way to raise awareness. Maybe a boycott can help people stay aware and never forget what happened as the next news cycle approaches, all the better. And if it puts even a tiny pinch in the pockets of those who caused this, I'd do it.

[marmar]

1. I've already started my own personal BP boycott.

nt

[mrcheerful]

2. The only way to boycott any oil company is to boycott all oil companies

this is no longer 1970 where boycotts could work on oil companies for the main reason being oil is no longer produced and sold by brand names. What the oil companies do is put oil into storage, then take it to a refinery where it is distributed to states. Like here in Michigan all oil products come from 1 refinery in Indiana so every gas station in the state comes from that refinery meaning that shell gasoline is the same as Speedway.

So unless you boycott all gas stations the oil companies get a share of the profit including BP, Exxon and all the rest. You can thank Raygun and republicons for that as it was their deregulations of the oil business that allowed this practice.

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. I've tried to make people get that it's not possible to boycott one member of the oil cartel. No joy

I worked for an independent oil refinery in a city called Santa Fe Springs, CA. It was a TINY refinery, as refineries go. After dark, everyone from Chevron to Shell to Citgo to Valero had trucks lined up outside waiting to come in and fill up with gas to take to their respective stations.

Anyone who believes that boycotting a single oil company could hurt that oil company is blissfully ignorant.

[mrcheerful]

5. Yeah funny how they don't seem to get it no matter how many times it is said or shown to them

[garybeck]

13. Dude, read the OP. I clearly stated, I know it would not affect the one oil company

and I also said that would not be the purpose either.

[TexasObserver]

6. That's because a boycott would hurt them.

Just because some aspects of BP's business are beyond direct boycott doesn't mean all parts of their business beyond direct boycott.

There are BP outlets all over America, and they're making money for BP, from the sale of gasoline, of soft drinks, of beer, of candy, of groceries, of cigarettes and lighters. If that didn't matter to BP, they wouldn't advertise it all the time on all sorts of media.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. What's your favorite brand of gasoline, and why? Which stations to you frequent most?

Come on my friend, I have a lot of respect for you and your opinions. I almost always read posts with your tagline.

I'll give you the point that not shopping for Cokes, Bubble Yum, or Marlboros and Bics at BP stations is keeping money out of their coffers. Where I live though, there aren't BP gas stations. In fact, I've never seen one.

[TexasObserver]

9. I don't have a favorite brand of gasoline. It's essentially all the same.

I buy all my gasoline and convenience store needs from an independent. It is my practice to patronize mom and pops businesses to the extent possible. I've never had any brand loyalty, but I do have brands I will not patronize. Exxon is one and BP is now another.

I was using your terminology back at you, but any diminution in BP's retail business hurts BP. They have spent a small fortune convincing the public they're the greenest of green companies. They have their window dressing activities, and then they have the bulk of their activities. Their "green" theme is nothing but a PR campaign, like George Bush and his "compassionate conservative" marketing scam.

A boycott keeps the company's name in the news and acts as a way citizens can express their displeasure in a small but direct manner. Given the choice of a BP station and the one across the street, which one do you suppose BP wants you to patronize?

[mrcheerful]

11. Even the BP stations that do sell this other goods aren't really going to be hurt by people not

buying the goods, BP gets a commission for having those things in their stations to be sold, even if they don't sell the products they still get paid. Suppliers come in every month and replaces out dated products, they are not buying the products they are selling they are being paid to have the products in their stations. It is really amazing what people don't know about the way big business have slanted everything in their favor. That is why you see so few mom and pop type stations today, those type of stations could be hurt by boycotts as they had to buy everything they sold. Then theres the tax write offs that these chain stations get for more corporate welfare when they don't make a profit.

[garybeck]

14. Please read the OP.

the intended purpose would not be to just hurt BP, as stated clearly in the OP. Why are you attacking that position when it was never made?

[TexasObserver]

4. Yes, it is a good idea.

It sends a message.

It hurts some BP revenue streams.

It hurts BP's profitability.

It helps combat the BP market campaigns that will inevitably follow.

There's a reason BP has spent the last several years trying to convince the citizenry they're the most GREEN of all the oil companies: there's money in it. BP is not a good corporate citizen. The should be boycotted. This isn't their first major safety failure.

[Kalun D]

8. Despicable Lowlife Scumbags

BP is a bunch of scum weasels

sh*tstains on the face of humanity

listening to the nightly Thom Hartman rerun

BP is dumping toxic dispersants to make the oil less visible

so they are intentionally ADDING to the level of toxins in the spill just for visual purposes so the oil doesn't show up as much in photographs

they won't even say what the contents of the dispersants are

these people are the scum of the earth, the lowest of the low

there needs to be a new French revolution and put these guys to the guillotine.

[tavalon]

10. It's so nice to see a fellow Exxon boycotter

In the beginning, there were lots of us, but now people just look at me strangely when I say I won't go to Exxon or Mobil.

[Scuba]

12. So punish the minimum wage clerk at the local BP? C'mon...

... BP will have no problem selling their oil.