If you've paid any attention to television lately, you've likely seen a few commercials for tourism along the Gulf Coast. If not, here's one:
Here's another one:
Don't these spots just make you want to get in the car, drive down to Alabama and eat some shrimp? I also saw another one that features, in a prominent role, the Governor of Mississippi and his lovely wife. They're inviting you down to Mississippi, too. Y'all come on down, there's absolutely nothing wrong.
On the one hand, it's hard to blame them for trying. But at what cost?
BP (the fourth largest company in the world) has vowed to do whatever it takes to make sure no one along the Gulf Coast is financially impacted by their epic fuck up. This includes producing, procuring and deploying media in at least a few prime time slots (that I noticed) last week. Commercials like the ones above. No, the spots don't have to say BP for us to know they're part of a BP snow job.
Come on down! Our beaches are clear! Nothing whatsoever is wrong!
Curiously, I don't remember seeing ads for the Gulf Coast when all the oil rigs were functioning properly. Why is it that my market is suddenly their market? Honestly, do they think people are going to do what they say just because they say to do it during the second break on American Idol?
Did you see the baby turtles in our ad? Aw…so cute. Come! Quickly! We'd love to see ya!
Can money solve all of our problems? Evidently, BP thinks so. And so do the people who allowed them to run such a ridiculous campaign. You see, we're all just minions. We see, we hear, we act favorably. The numbers say so. But imagine what happens if people flock down there and a nice storm kicks some of that sludge onshore? Betcha people will share that experience with other people.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Gulf coast and my heart is with everyone affected there. But more than the people, my heart is with the ecosystem we've just altered for a decade or more. A system that only barely includes us to begin with.
"Drill Baby Drill" is the war cry of the ignorant. Yes, the earth can bounce back from anything we throw at it. Anything. Even nukes. The oil people are right. This rock will continue to orbit our neighborhood star whether we're here or not. Rather, it's the organic creatures that live on the crust that need the rock. Not the other way around.
This oil spill is more than just the money and tourism. It's about taking a step back and making a rational assessment of the situation. But to too many people, the Gulf Coast is just 20 billion dollars in tourism. Being eco-friendly isn't a priority in most capitalistic endeavors. Except in hindsight. In TV ads.
Shame on the officials along the Gulf coast who bought into BP's 'throw money at it' logic. Had they thought this through beyond just a knee-jerk reaction, they could have done something useful with the generous BP media buy. Something like my friend Michael Calienes mentioned last week:
Had the officials just said, "That's it then – we've got to write off this year. Let us now get to work on how to respond to this disaster so that next tourist season, our message will have meaning." Oh, and they'd already have a nice budget to build on, too. But no, they took the devil's money and pretzel logic and now they look desperate. Sadly, at this point the only ones profiting from the oil spill are media companies.
Seafood, sunny skies, tanned and beautiful children running barefoot – and you. Oh, and baby turtles. Come on down!
***
Jim Mitchem is Floridian, writer and entrepreneur. He and his wife live in Charlotte with their two daughters and many animals. You can find him on Twitter @smashadv.
Sue Spaight
Jun 7, 2010
Thank you for writing this. *applause* I heard that BP spent $50 million on it’s own image advertising as well, which is an absolute OBSCENITY.
Nichole (napril1023)
Jun 7, 2010
Brillant, beautiful writing. Kudos to you for giving voice to many our thoughts, and to Calienes for a genius idea. Too bad the muckety-muck pols and suits aren’t listening to the people – you know their constituents and consumers. I don’t need to tell you to keep it up, Jim. But please do.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 7, 2010
They’re masters of spin. Or rather, they used to be.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 7, 2010
Wow, I almost don’t know how to respond to that. Thank you Nichole. And you’re right, when I originally started writing this post, I had a group of people around a shiny conference table in Birmingham. Mostly white. Mostly in very nice clothes. Mostly men. All of them patting sweat with handkerchiefs. Two younger men walk in and plug a laptop into a projector. They have British accents. They’re not sweating. The Alabama spot (above) starts to play.
tommartin
Jun 8, 2010
Jim
Great post… we must have had that vulcan mind meld thing going as I posted this one this morning – a slightly different angle but gets to the same point — you can’t advertise your way out of this…
http://ow.ly/1VDXS
Stop over and drop a link back to this post with a reference to the stay for free when you clean idea — great addition.
@TomMartin
http://www.ConverseDigital.com
MacswellHouse
Jun 8, 2010
Sue – Did you see the full page ad they took out in the WSJ, NYT and other top newspapers? Ridiculous. Fix the leak, then your image. Not vice versa.
http://bit.ly/bTdkoj
Jim – Great post!
Dennis Van Staalduinen
Jun 8, 2010
Bravo Jim. This stuff reminds me of that poor ill-fated Iraqi information minister telling Journalists “There are NO American tanks in Baghdad! We are winning!” even as you could hear the shells falling in the background.
You’ve got to build PR / marketing / brand messages on a solid base of 1) grasp of cold, hard reality, 2) respect for the intelligence of your audience, and 3) smart assessment of how far you can stretch their credulity before it snaps back on you like a broken (and cynical) bungee cord.
Better to say: “look, we know what you’re seeing on the news, and IT’S TRUE, but consider vacationing here anyway. Our fantastic restaurants and hotels need your help right now, and the prices will be reasonable.” It’s still a tough sell, but it *might* work on someone – or at least build awareness for the future if there is one.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 8, 2010
Thanks Tom. If the situation isn’t bad enough, we’ve got BP spinning the heads of the politicians down there. Pisses me off. And yes, Michael’s idea was spot on.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 8, 2010
Bag this year. Just bag it. Take the money and bank it for a future initiative that is based on fact. Oh that’s right, it’s too late now. That’s what happens when you deal with the devil, I guess.
Michael Calienes
Jun 8, 2010
Thanks for mentioning our convo, sir. Really appreciate that.
Full transparency is far from the norm for tourism. Tourism advertising focuses on the “best of” rather than “reality”. Perhaps the issue is that this shouldn’t be wrapped up in tourism in the traditional sense. It should be wrapped up in something bigger, more powerful, an “ism” that may not even be invented yet. As it is now, I don’t think any Gulf Coast state will not benefit from distraction advertising, note when every other word on the news is “tar balls”.
Thanks for telling it like it is, Jim, and how it could probably be made better.
Kat Jaibur (@katjaib)
Jun 8, 2010
Ick. Ick. And triple ick. Those spots make my skin crawl. I was waiting for the camera to pan over to Jim Carrey or the SNL cast covered in oil, shaking off the tar balls from their beach towels, spitting out disgusting shrimp. Slick seems to be the only word BP understands. Isn’t there a country song, “Do you wanna believe me or your lying eyes?
I love Michael’s idea. That is HUGE. BP should put volunteers up in hotels (at prime season rate) and give us debit cards to shop and eat out after volunteering for the day. How will they know we really helped out? I guess it will have to be the same way they want us to know they’re doing all they can: Trust.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 8, 2010
Yeah, I realize that perception is part of any tourism appeal. But damn, there’s a difference between perception and deception. Tourism is all about the experience. And right now, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the Gulf w/all the bad karma happening. And I know that’s a limited view of things, but I’ll gladly go back down there next spring when most of this crap has passed. But for the long-term health effects of people, animals and plants, of course.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 8, 2010
I don’t know if BP can be trusted. Really, I don’t. They’re ‘too big to fail’ and all that. These spots make me think they were created in the future – like from a bad Tom Cruise movie where coverups are prevalent.
Matt Totsch
Jun 10, 2010
I like how the gov has to stick up for BP because BP writes the checks and tells the gov what to do. Nice post.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 10, 2010
Thanks, Matt. Yep, it’s a mess. If it weren’t England, we’d probably be talking invasion by now. 😉
Lisa
Jun 13, 2010
Beautifully written, Jim. I have been watching a lot of propaganda movies lately “Grass”, “The Atomic Cafe”, etc., and it makes me so sad that what people are seeing is nothing more than the same thing. They are being fooled by the people that control Madison Avenue into thinking that they can come on down and things are fabulous. Propaganda and it’s not.
My friend, Emili, was at the Dauphin Island estuary 3 days ago. Not only are they begging for visitors, they were giving visitors solvent to remove oil from their shoes, etc.
She said the oddest thing was that the old gas station smelled like fish, while the ocean smelled like a gas station. There was no “sea” smell in the breeze. When she gets her photos uploaded I will share. The oil, heavy equipment, the oil booms, etc.
It’s shameful and all based around the almighty dollar.
Jim Mitchem
Jun 13, 2010
Really puts our dependency on oil in a new perspective, don’t it?
My novel – Minor King
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