Your Message Just Got Muddy
If you don't send out public relations information on your
sustainability activities, no one will know. But then, if your PR is
pre-empted by some too-early-for-April-Fool's-Day prank. will your
message still be heard? I think so, but there may be a credibility
issue.
I'm so thankful I didn't pick up the press release
that Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch, and the Yes Men
reportedly released, acting as if they were Chevron Corp. The
environmental groups added a few more statements to the oil company's
new "We Agree" campaign, such as "Oil Companies Should Clean Up their
Messes."
No one likes being duped and some in the media were, but I won't
mention names. I have been aware of this ongoing case for some
time, but it is quite complex: More than 30 years ago, Texaco built
oil waste pits in the Amazon jungle. Chevron bought Texaco 10 years ago
and paid $40 million toward cleanup but is now facing a
multi-billion lawsuit in Ecuador. There seems to be disagreement
about the size of the problem, both geographically and monetarily.
Next, the environmentalists "responded to the fake ads" and revealed
themselves with another press release: "…a group of environmentalists
cyber-posing as Chevron officials illegally spoofed Chevron's
just-launched 'We Agree' advertising campaign, confusing reporters.
While such a campaign does exist, its official URL is Chevron.com/weagree. The advertisements released [Oct. 18], at Chevron-weagree.com, were an elaborate subterfuge and must not be mistaken as real," they said.
The pranksters are still hitting hard at changechevron.org/. For the record, Chevron Corp.'s website is http://www.chevron.com/. This link brings you directly to the new campaign.
Yesterday, I saw one of Chevron's new commercials. Half of the screen
displayed a worker voicing common complaints about big oil while the
other showed a Chevron employee responding and generally agreeing with
the complainant. The lawsuit aside, I tend to want to give Chevron a
chance to make good on its sustainability efforts now and in the future.
But green lip service really doesn't have much street cred. In his blog,
R.P. Siegel refers to the company having an accountability deficit
disorder. I'm sure this isn't a rare condition, in general.
I think Chevron needs to do something totally unexpected now,
something big ─ like maybe engage its detractors or send a remediation
crew south. And then you'll see some coverage on EPonline that is sustainable.
Posted by L.K. Williams on Oct 25, 2010 at 11:32 AM