I remember the first time, I noticed the new BP logo, being fully aware of the history and the marketing of British Petroleum from its influential role in the geopolitics in Iran and the Caspian since 1908, the new logo of the green energy sun with the new "Beyond Petroleum" tagline was indicative of the importance of branding and rebranding in our flattened world. The oil leak in Gulf of Mexico has sensitized our consumerist environmental concerns and blemishes the green and yellow sun of the logo. However, the logo of 2001 attempts to whitewash the history of a corporate giant that has mixed state and corporate interests in imperial geopolitical games. It is our value added perceptions of corporations and imperial games that necessitate marketing rebranding to make consumption palatable for us. Whitewash can only cover so much; inevitably the darker past comes through. The leak in the Gulf is not unusual in oil exploration; there are leaks that last months until they can be tapped. One has to look to the frantic drilling in the Caspian Sea since 1989 and the environmental degradation that has resulted from it. So advertisers get ready BP is about to put out a new RFP for a new branding campaign as the 2001 logo is washing away.
In case you thought BP's PR problems couldn't get any worse... - By Steve LeVine | The Oil and the Glory
Ok, don't know how else one might post this, so I'm just going to leave a link. I'm up in Toronto to watch Manchester United beat the living daylights out of Celtic, and I pick up the Globe and Mail, which appears to be like a high end Canadian version of USA Today. In it I found an interesting outsider perspective on the financial reform bill that smacked of a political theory class... http://failblog.org/2010/07/01/epic-fail-photos-political-race-win/
ReplyDeleteHope everyone's well,
Jim