An Open Letter to Those Who Would Boycott BP
Given the crisis in the Gulf, as the media has called it, I can understand some people’s knee jerk reaction to boycott BP in a show of disapproval of the oil company and solidarity with the Gulf. What they are not considering is the broader ramifications of such actions; namely, the effect of their boycott on local economies already devastated by a loss of fishing grounds. What is perhaps not common knowledge is that, unlike other commercial chains, not all gas stations are owned by the company whose oil they sell*. These Dealer Owned, Dealer Operated (DODO) stations are franchises owned by a local member of the community who is in turn employing other members of the community**. To boycott DODOs is to further ravage communities, particularly in the Gulf States, which are already weary from the weakened economy and whose situation has been exasperated by the toll taken by the destruction of miles of coastline and acres of fishing grounds.
I would also argue that boycotting Corporate Owned, Corporate Operated (COCO) stations, while siphoning monies away from BP, also negatively affects local economies and ultimately serves no purpose than to take a perceived moral high road. A boycott of a chain of gas stations is in no way similar to boycotting a mega-box-store. You are not forgoing the lure of low prices to support the local mom and pop shop or to protest the ways employees are treated; you are foregoing one mom and pop shop for a different teat on the oil supply. It is also in no way comparable to boycotting produce; you are not improving the lives of any workers by boycotting a gas station.
If you really feel a boycott is necessary, what would be more effective would be to get corporations to cancel direct orders from BP. And if we move beyond boycotting gas stations and discuss boycotting BP in general, you must also consider the towns, large and small all over the Gulf Coast, who are economically supported by the oil industry. They are homes to oil company employees from roughnecks to managers, from executives to assistants. But, they are also more than that. Entire intricately interlaced industries have risen up to support our yearning to suckle at the teat of oil.
If one town does not have employees of an oil company, they have employees of the oil industry; and because of all of this, you have to acknowledge what effect your choice to take a moral high ground will have on these People.
They are people. They are not nameless suits in an executive office in some downtown foreign capital. They are Americans from the Gulf Coast. They are mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, husbands, friends, neighbors. You are not bringing down tyranny by boycotting one oil company, you are affecting lives.
Boycotting one oil company for another says nothing and does nothing. If you want to make a statement, live petroleum free. But until you can do that, please give my family, friends, neighbors and the entire community of the Gulf Coast a break. You are not without the sin of oil, and they are just trying to make a living, just like you. Could management have instilled a better corporate culture? Sure. But one need only look to ExxonMobil for proof that with great tragedy comes great change. Should it have come to this? No. But it has, and we all have to make it right.
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*Not to mention the fact that the gasoline being sold is not exclusively refined from oil produced by the brand it is sold under. BP produces oil, but produces much more gasoline, conversely Shell produces lots of oil, but refines less gasoline. When you buy gas at BP it is not necessarily made from BP oil, it could come from any oil producer in the world. Similarly, it is possible that if you purchase from a Shell station, it might be likely you’re getting Exxon or BP gasoline.
**In the last two years BP has transitioned its convenience store channel of trade to a fully franchise owned and operated market. With the exception of a few sites, mostly on the West Coast, all the sites are owned and operated by dealers, jobbers and franchisees who are independent business operators. Unfortunately, any boycott of BP retail sites will impact the small business operators of these BP sites.
