1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

BREAKING: Oil leak stopped

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by novelist_wannabe, Jul 15, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    What other recourse do consumers have against these BP corporate sons of bitches? If there was a better way, I'd be all for it.
     
  2. Shifty Squid

    Shifty Squid Member

    It's not that there's not a better way. It's that there's NO way, the way the gas stations are set up with relation to the branded companies.

    In fact, this is one situation where words may actually speak far louder than actions. The only thing you can do that might make a difference is join protests, help make your voice heard that you're boycotting them, then don't actually do it. It's not even necessarily BP's gas in the pumps. The oil gets shuttled off to refineries that might receive oil from all the big companies, and they're not keeping it separated. The only difference between gas at, say, BP vs. Shell is that each company may put in its own mix of additives before it goes into the pumps (and your car).

    Actually boycotting these stations really just hurts your neighbor who runs the station and depends on it for his or her income. BP is insulated from these individual stations far too well for it to have much, if any, impact. On the other hand, the more people who just say they're boycotting BP without actually doing it, the more skittish investors might get, causing BP stock to tumble further. That's when the BP execs start seeing it actually impact their bank account and potentially hurting the company.
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    They had a picture of a BP station from down south that had the following written on the readerboard.

    "Don't like your boss? Well I hate mine too."
     
  4. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    I would hope that investors would be plenty skittish about BP. If not, they're damned fools.
     
  5. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    Awesome.
     
  6. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Sorry, but this whole line of thinking is bullshit.

    First of all, if my neighbor is providing a service I don't want -- even by merely having a BP sign in front of his business -- there's a penalty to be paid for it. I don't like BP, you chose to have BP as the gas company that represents your gas station. Tough shit.

    Secondly, this "hurt my neighbor" stuff is a load of hooey. If my "neighbor" starts his own restaurant, I go there, and the food sucks, should I feel guilty for hurting my neighbor in that case? Take that a step further ... many chain restaurants are independently and locally owned. I don't feel any obligation to go have some shitty Hardee's mega-burger just because Joe Blow down the street might own it.

    Consumer choices we make hurt (and help) our "neighbors" everyday.

    My consumer choice is to not patronize BP gas stations. Tough shit, neighbor.
     
  7. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    Bubbler - Good post.

    My choice is to support the Sunoco two blocks from my house. The owner, Alex, razed the piece of crap building he had that included two service bays he never used and replaced it with a brick building with lots of convienience store offerings, more pumps and a roof over the pumps - in other words, a huge improvement that reflected well on the neighborhood. His prices are reasonable, too.

    I'm supporting this neighbor - by choice.

    I'm not supporting BP - by choice.
     
  8. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    You guys can make whatever choices you want. But you aren't hurting corporate BP. As long as your purpose isn't to do that, then it's perfectly fine.
     
  9. Point of Order

    Point of Order Active Member

    I disagree. If people stop getting BP gas it will have a ripple effect. These small independent gas station owners need to carry someone else's gas.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I don't think I've seen more than one car at any BP gas station in the past month.
     
  11. WolvEagle

    WolvEagle Well-Known Member

    A BP station in one of our sister paper's coverage areas switched to Sunoco. He said he had to so he could stay in business.
     
  12. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    What are the chances BP will change its name (a la Valujet~Airtran) to distance itself from the stench of this?
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page