BA 2196 Section 04/ Elissa Petrosky
Writing Assignment: BP’s Oil Spill Response
BP, one of the biggest energy companies in the world, created the largest oil spill
catastrophe ever happened in the United States. On April 20, 2010 the explosion on the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig resulted in death of 11 workers of BP and leakage of over four
million barrel of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. To show people around the world that BP is
the company that takes responsibility for its actions, BP opened Gulf of Mexico
Restoration program that aims to help restore economic and ecologic situation of the
affected region. The official website of the company www.bp.com has a huge section
called “Gulf of Mexico Restoration” that includes information needed to understand how
the company compensates people and businesses for its failure. BP’s “Gulf of Mexico
Restoration” website uses three strategies to try to repair its reputation: to show public that
BP is trying to help to develop better community in the Gulf states, the company’s website
uses a clip that shows that the company sponsors Challenger Learning Center to help
educate local children; to show the public that BP is an ethical company and is ready to
compensate the damages people and businesses suffered because of the oil spill, the
website offers the affected individuals claim forms to report claims; to show public that
BP’s effort to restore the environment is working successfully, the website uses colorful
photographs of people involved in restoration processes.
To tell people that BP is trying to develop communities in the Gulf States, the company’s
website uses video clip that shows the sponsorship program that BP provides to help local
students to receive better education. Under the title “Community development in the Gulf
states” there is two minutes and 20 seconds long video of Challenger Learning Center, its
director, professors, and students. The video clip highlights how BP is giving a chance to
low-income families to send their children to Challenger Learning Center that specializes
in science, mathematics, and technology. The director of the Challenger Learning Center,
Michelle Personette, tells the video watchers that their partnership with BP “provided
tuition scholarships to over 600 students along the counties and Florida Gulf Coast to
come all the way to Tallahassee.” She also tells that because of BP’s generosity, the center
was able to expand and provide education to more children who has a great interest in
