Doug Mills/The New York Times
“People say that large oil companies don’t care about the small people. But we care. We care about the small people.”
BP’s chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, learned a valuable lesson that sent shock waves over ever BP oil rig around the globe–choose your words wisely.
The “small people” comment ignited conversations on every blog post around the globe, and fueled a powerful anger response from the American people.
Although the BP PR folks tried to bandade the ill fated comment as a “slip in translation” and later Wednesday, Mr. Svanberg apologized, admitting he had spoken “clumsily”, the damage was done. In fact, “small people” is yet one more failure in the long legacy of BP mishaps.
BP’s Chairman went on to say, “What I was trying to say — that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the gulf and depend on it for their livelihood — will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who’ve been hurt.”
The worst environmental disaster in American history will indeed be conveyed by volumes of words, both during the efforts to cap the rig and right the wrongs, and long after. Experts will be born overnight who will make a nice living on the lecture circuit expressing their thoughts and debating others.
Words do indeed, ignite actions.
Without question, it is the correct actions set into motion to get control over this terrible tragedy that are what we all desperately need. What has fueled the fires in the press, on the phones, on the keyboards and at the coffee shop counters are 360 conversations that have gotten to a fever pitch.
If BP, the Government, and the Oil Industry had communicated accurately, clearly, honestly, and collaboratively, with the common goal to solve the issue at hand, perhaps all we “small people” would have “small hope” that these folks have a clue to meet the mounting catastrophic challenges at hand, now and in the future.
One final comment…it is the Small People in the USA that make this country Giant.
And to all the BPs of the world, please don’t ever forget that.