As BP Backlash Grows, So Do Calls For Boycott

[charlesg]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127110643

As BP Backlash Grows, So Do Calls For Boycott
by Scott Neuman

As BP struggles to plug pipeline leaks that have spewed untold barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a torrent of public anger has spurred a small but growing campaign to boycott its products.

Chief Executive Tony Hayward and other BP brass have blitzed U.S. broadcast networks with the message that the company is doing all it can to stanch the crude now washing ashore in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But that's done little to reassure people along the Gulf Coast who fear their home states and livelihoods may be forever changed by a company that has spent millions creating a "green" image.

Such emotion has given rise to nascent boycott efforts on Facebook and Twitter, as well as traditional advocacy groups. A "Boycott BP" Facebook campaign urging consumers to shun BP stations and brands — including ARCO, Castrol, Amoco, Safeway Gas and ampm — has nearly 95,000 followers. A similar site has more than 3,000 followers.

The consumer watchdog Public Citizen also has stepped into the fray, with an online petition that asks people to "send a clear message to BP by boycotting its gas and retail store products" for what it calls the company's history of negligence. The group doesn't normally engage in boycotts but the call to do something in this case was overwhelming, says Tyson Slocum, director of the group's Energy Program.

"We want to punish BP. We want to send a message that a company cannot just purchase an image that it is socially conscious," Slocum says. He notes that Public Citizen's boycott effort isn't intended to punish individual gas stations and convenience stores, but rather target corporate headquarters...

[jeffrey_X]

1. boycott groups have been up on FB for at least 2 weeks..maybe more

fuck em

[Wilber_Stool]

2. The only people you will hurt

is the franchise owners who are the least responsible for the spill. Besides, all of the gas you buy anywhere all comes out of the same tank from the wholesaler.