Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR
Dearest Media,
My name is Leroy Stick and I am the man behind @BPGlobalPR. First, let me begin by explaining my name.
When I was growing up, there was a dog that lived on my block named Leroy. Leroy was a big dog with a disdain for leashes and a thirst for blood. He made a habit of running around our block attacking anything he saw, biting my dad and my dogs basically whenever he had the chance. He chased me a few times, but I always escaped because I was/am an amazing tree climber.
Anyhoos, after Leroy’s second or third attack on my dogs, it became clear that the police and Leroy’s owner weren’t going to do anything to stop him, so my dad took matters into his own hands and came up with a brilliant invention: the Leroy stick.
The Leroy stick was, you guessed it, a stick. My dad carried an axe handle and I carried a plunger handle. My dad told me two things about carrying the Leroy stick. First, if Leroy came near me or the dogs, I should hit him. Second, if I hit Leroy with my stick, I would not get in trouble. Was it legal? Probably not. Was it right? It sure felt like it. We set the example and soon a lot of our neighbors started carrying Leroy sticks as well. Soon enough, Leroy and his owner saw everyone carrying sticks and Leroy didn’t run free anymore.
If you think the point of this story is to beat dogs with sticks, then I’m guessing you probably still think I work for BP as well.
The point of this story is that if someone is terrorizing your neighborhood, sometimes it’s alright to grab a stick and take a swing. Social media, and in this particular case Twitter, has given average people like me the ability to use and invent all sorts of brand new sticks.
I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bullshit PR statements. No solutions, no urgency, no sincerity, no nothing. That’s why I decided to relate to the public for them. I started off just making jokes at their expense with a few friends, but now it has turned into something of a movement. As I write this, we have 100,000 followers and counting. People are sharing billboards, music, graphic art, videos and most importantly information.
Why has this caught on? I think it’s because people can smell the bullshit and sometimes laughing at it feels better than getting angry or depressed over it. At the very least, it’s a welcome break from that routine. The reason @BPGlobalPR continues to grow is because BP continues to spew their bullshit.
I’ve read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR. First of all, who cares? Second of all, what kind of business are you in? I’m trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company? One pickledick actually suggested that BP approach me and try to incorporate me into their actual PR outreach. That has got to be the dumbest, most head-up-the-ass solution anyone could possibly offer.
Do you want to know what BP should do about me? Do you want to know what their PR strategy should be? They should fire everyone in their joke of a PR department, starting with all-star Anne Womack-Kolto and focus on actually fixing the problems at hand. Honestly, Cheney’s publicist? That’s too easy.
BP seems to only care about maintaining their image so they can keep making money, two things we have blatantly avoided. I don’t have an image and I’m not making any money AT ALL for myself. Every penny we make from the t-shirts goes to the Gulf Restoration Network. Just a few hours ago, we made our first official $10,000 donation to healthygulf.org from the money we’ve made selling free “bp cares” t-shirts in one week.
So what is the point of all this? The point is, FORGET YOUR BRAND. You don’t own it because it is literally nothing. You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately, that’s up to the public, now isn’t it?
You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand? Have a respectable brand. Offer a great, innovative product and make responsible, ethical business decisions. Lead the pack! Evolve! Don’t send hundreds of temp workers to the gulf to put on a show for the President. Hire those workers to actually work! Don’t dump toxic dispersant into the ocean just so the surface looks better. Collect the oil and get it out of the water! Don’t tell your employees that they can’t wear respirators while they work because it makes for a bad picture. Take a picture of those employees working safely to fix the problem. Lastly, don’t keep the press and the people trying to help you away from the disaster, open it up so people can see it and help fix it. This isn’t just your disaster, this is a human tragedy. Allow us to mourn so that we can stop being angry.
In the meantime, if you are angry, speak up. Don’t let people forget what has happened here. Don’t let the prolonged nature of this tragedy numb you to its severity. Re-branding doesn’t work if we don’t let it, so let’s hold BP’s feet to the fire. Let’s make them own up to and fix their mistakes NOW and most importantly, let’s make sure we don’t let them do this again.
Right now, PR is all about brand protection. All I’m suggesting is that we use that energy to work on human progression. Until then, I guess we’ve still got jokes.
Love,
Leroy Stick (aka a guy in his boxer shorts)
[...] Stick, a pseudonym for the twitterer behind @BPGlobalPR, recently released a statement and gave an interview. With more than 140,000 followers, the biting and hilarious @BPGlobalPR has [...]
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[...] Shira Lazar recently did a CBS News interview with @BPTerry, a spokesperson for Leroy Stick, the guy behind @BPGlobalPR, a Twitter account that makes fun of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Leroy recently outed himself in on the blog Street Giant. [...]
[...] http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/ [...]
[...] If you haven’t already I recommend reading this article about Leroy Stick and his efforts – Leroy Stick – The Man Behind @BPGlobalPR [...]
[...] Oh yeah: In case you’re wondering, a few days back the guy behind @BPGlobalPR, Leroy Stick, explained his schtick: I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had [...]
[...] can read his full blog post here, but allow me to sum it up for you: Leroy feels that BP should stop worrying about saving their [...]
[...] che ha poi pubblicato online il suo outing, svelando una nuova identità, quella di Leroy Stick. Un gioco che piacerebbe a Ghezzi o, per essere più aulici, a Heidegger: uno svelamento che cela [...]
[...] now has more than 120,000 followers, about 10 times the number following BP’s official feed. In a blog manifesto, the handle’s creator, Leroy Stick, wrote: “You know the best way to get the public to respect [...]
[...] If you haven’t already I recommend reading this article about Leroy Stick and his efforts – Leroy Stick – The Man Behind @BPGlobalPR [...]
[...] dia 02 de junho publicou um texto se apresentando formalmente. Segue o link: http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_localize = { Share: "Compartilhar", Save: "Salvar", [...]
[...] by ian The most interesting thing I read this week when hipster blog StreetGiant outed (sort of) Leroy Stick, the man behind the infamous Twitter account BPGlobalPR. A salient point which frankly [...]
[...] Street Giant " Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR (tags: business communication crisis environment humor marketing media politics socialmedia twitter bp brand 2010) [...]
[...] Stick the man behind @BPGlobalPR: http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/ – (addition: Was this predicted in 1999? [...]
[...] @BPglobalPR has been amusing us for weeks now with its alternative view on the BP oil spill. “Leroy Stick” has some forceful views on the meaning of corporate social responsibility: “FORGET [...]
[...] Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR The story of a hilarious and hard-hitting satirical account on Twitter which a massive number of people are now following. (tags: BP Oil Satire Humour reputation Politics twitter Brand Activism) [...]
[...] totally against my personal brand, but allow me this one reprieve to point you in the direction of this, if you haven’t already seen it. It’s an on-point and really funny open letter to media [...]
[...] week, Stick published a memo to the media explaining his motivation for starting BPGlobalPR, which has now amassed more than 10 times the [...]
[...] is being taken head on @BPGlobalPR, it’s worth the 2 minutes to read the letter to the media by BPGlobalPR to understand their attack on the PR efforts by BP. Click here to view the article. A bird is mired [...]
latest oil spill video sent to me by a friend
hope this helps, much peace.
#oil #spill latest video @AwesomeInc http://www.awesomeinc.tv/2010/06/05/oil-drill-spill/ @HealthyGulf @BPGlobalPR
[...] аbουt 10 times tһе number following BP’s official feed. Iח a blog manifesto, tһе handle’s creator, Leroy Stick, wrote: “Yου know tһе [...]
[...] a follower, but a couple of days ago, the genius behind the Twitter feed BPGlobalPR sent out a press release. A serious one. Turns out he (or she, I suppose, although the signature on the release includes [...]
[...] Shop kann man T-Shirts erwerben. Hinter dem Account steckt eine Person namens Leroy Stick und der erklärt hier, was seine Motivation ist. Wiederum Remixe seiner Tweets und Bildern der Öl-Katastrophe finden sich hier in Form von [...]
[...] Read his full statement and press release here on streetgiant.com. [...]
[...] Leroy Stick – The Man Behind @BPGlobalPR (StreetGiant) [...]
[...] “prankster/activist” – 5/24, an article titled: The Great Unknowns of the Gulf Oil Spil – NEWSWEEK [...]
[...] now has more than 120,000 followers, about 10 times the number following BP’s official feed. In a blog manifesto, the handle’s creator, Leroy Stick, wrote: “You know the best way to get the public to respect [...]
[...] keep from crying). Yesterday, “Leroy Stick” the man behind the account posted a letter to the media (note there is profanity in the letter, that as a professional I don’t endorse, but think this [...]
[...] week, Stick published a memo to the media explaining his motivation for starting BPGlobalPR, which has now amassed more than 10 times the [...]
[...] week, Stick published a memo to the media explaining his motivation for starting BPGlobalPR, which has now amassed more than 10 times the [...]
bravo, Leroy! bravo! thank you for what you’re doing to raise the profile of this double tragedy: the gushing oil and the atrocious PR attempts. I have no doubt your efforts will inspire action and thank you for your support the great and desperately needed efforts of the Gulf Restoration Network. May what you started as a joke inspire action from the masses!
[...] Street Giant » Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR In the course of excoriating BP, a noble end in and of itself, he says this: "You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand? Have a respectable brand. Offer a great, innovative product and make responsible, ethical business decisions." To which I can simply say: Yes. This. Now please all got and read the whole piece, because it's great. (tags: twitter activism branding bp pr) [...]
[...] all, a terrible irony that the Berlin airlift coincided with the destruction of Arab Palestine Street Giant » Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR I’ve read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing [...]
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[...] the anonymous tweeter revealed himself … sort of. In a post authored under the (clearly pseudonymous) name “Leroy Stick”, the author explained the [...]
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[...] can read Stick’s entire statement here. What do you think of his [...]
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[...] more on Leroy Stick This entry was written by lawrence & filed under THINK and tagged GREEN. Bookmark the [...]
[...] writing, "I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bulls*** PR statements." Because, he or she claims, others had a similar sense of just how empty those statements were, so [...]
[...] writer stepped forward this week, identifying himself to the bloggers at Street Giant only as “Leroy Stick.” In a 1,046-word letter to the media, he rips into BP’s PR response, [...]
Now, here’s the crappy thing. What’s going to happen when hurricane season starts really going? Oil will probably get sucked into the hurricanes and thrown all over the place, creating an even bigger problem. This spill has been going on for too darn long, and all they’re doing is a little bit of work? Trying to stuff balls down the pipe to clog it, before using the robots with saws? WTF. BP should at least be trying to do something. I mean, look at what Domino’s did about their crappy pizza! It’s not so crappy anymore…but that’s beside the point, at least they made an effort and apologized…BP could have prevented this by purchasing the proper valves. By spending maybe $2million, they could have prevented this. But no, they cheaped out, and now they’re paying…put simply…a shitload of money to fix this. They’re ruining protected marshes, they’re decimating already endangered animals (the brown pelican JUST made it off the endangered species list, and now look!), and they’re sitting in their chairs, scratching their chins and discussing silly ideas instead of actually going out there and doing something. The head honchos of every BP building should go to the gulf and see the mess. They should have to swim in the water, walk barefoot in the sand, experience the disaster, be affected by it just like how the animals and people who live there are being affected. BP should have to pay for not just the clean up, but endorse the people who have lost or will lose their jobs as a result. They should have to donate a heck of a lot of money to charities centered around the rehabilitation of the affected animals…They should be doing a lot more than what they are now.
Huzzah! Thanks so much for this; “righteous indignation” is one of Aristotle’s virtues, and one we need to recapture.
Love it. It is a study in social media and how we’ve all become synical consumers.
[...] Letter Here This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a [...]
[...] Leroy Stick – the man behind @BPGlobalPR This isn’t just your disaster, this is a human tragedy. Allow us to mourn so that we can stop being angry. [...]
[...] guy behind BPGlobalPr has an interesting explanation of what he’d on [...]
[...] In his confessional that starts “Dear Media,” Leroy Stick, the man behind the @BPGlobalPR says: [...]
You sir, are brilliant! Great post here and great stuff on twitter. keep it up.
@BPGlobalPR sure provides comedic relief and, granted, some… real news, but I’d love the 100,000-plus follows to folo the official Louisiana oilspill info site @GOSHEP. It is the state’s emergency operations groups site, providing timely, relevant information, including how and where to help. I guess as a Louisiana resident, I’m not in the mood anymore for laughs. We all know BP isn’t our favorite, but that’s a given at this point. We need real help now, so I’m beyond clever criticism etc.