Hill Heat: Waxman and Stupak Demand BP Detail Scope Of Advertising Campaign

Waxman and Stupak Demand BP Detail Scope Of Advertising Campaign

Brad Johnson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:03:00 -0400

In a letter to BP America CEO Lamar McKay, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) are demanding that BP disclose its “spending on corporate advertising and marketing relating to the the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and relief, recovery, and restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.” Their request follows the efforts of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) to get answers about BP’s massive greenwashing campaign, which includes months of full-page advertisements in national and regional newspapers, radio spots, television commercials, and Internet ads. Outside estimates of the scope of the greenwashing campaign managed by BP’s public relations firm Mediashare are in the tens of millions of dollars, the Washington Post’s Krissah Thompson reports:

After the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April, BP went on the air with television ads and bought a series of full-page ads in The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and other papers to position itself as an imperfect but responsible corporation committed to the cleanup of the gulf. The company has spent $55.8 million on television and print advertising so far this year, according to the Nielsen Co., which tracks ad spending.

According to Media Monitors, BP’s radio spots surged to 10,684 last week, with a particular focus on Florida stations. Since mid-July, BP’s internet ads have been running on political blogs, including Talking Points Memo, the Common Sense Media network of liberal sites from FireDogLake to AmericaBlog, and a host of conservative sites, including Eagle Interactive’s network with RedState and the Salem Web Network’s Townhall.com and Hot Air.

BP seems to be working harder to protect its brand than to help the people of the Gulf Coast, argued Alabama Attorney General Troy King. He has filed suit against BP because “while BP is spending millions on print ads and airtime, it’s not spending what it should on claims.” Fortunately, BP’s control of the claims process will finally end Monday, with the launch of Kenneth Feinberg’s Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

"Waxman and Stupak Demand BP Detail Scope Of Advertising Campaign " by Tom

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:38:46 -0500

Why doesn’t anybody just arrest these guys from BP? Put them in jail and through away the key. they deserve no less.

"Waxman and Stupak Demand BP Detail Scope Of Advertising Campaign " by Jerry

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:21:57 -0400

This has to be one of the most horrible acts of a company since i dont know. It’s one thing to mess up and cause a massive spill. It’s another story when you spend money on advertising that it wasn’t your fault. To me that is border line criminal. (son of sam law)

"Waxman and Stupak Demand BP Detail Scope Of Advertising Campaign " by Steve

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:19:16 -0400

This is such a ridiculous situation. I feel like the whole issue of the spill has been pushed to the back burner by the U.S. Gov’t, BP, the Media, and even the general public (minus the residents on the gulf coast). It’s a real shame too, because there’s still over 80 percent of the oil under the surface of the ocean. What BP did (using dispersants to cover up the severity) is criminal, plain and simple.