An Interview With the Guy Skewering BP on Twitter
In the wake of the burgeoning oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an anonymous Twitter bandit is taking BP, the company behind the catastrophe, to task. The writer behind
@BPGlobalPR has been excoriating the oil company since May 19, amassing more than 130,000 followers to date and receiving major media attention for his satirical (and staged) messages from BP to the public.
"I started @BPGlobalPR because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bulls**t PR statements. That's why I decided to relate to the public for them," the writer said in a
Huffington Post essay. "Why has this caught on? Sometimes laughing at it feels better than getting angry or depressed over it. I've read a bunch of articles [with] ... publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR. First of all, who cares? I'm trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean."
After the jump, PopEater's exclusive interview with @BPGlobalPR and our five favorite tweets.
When did you realize how much this was picking up steam?
Friday, May 21. I got about 1,000 followers that night because Roger Ebert retweeted my
tweet, "Sadly, we can no longer certify our oil as dolphin safe."
Can't go wrong with an Ebert retweet. And now, you've raised $10,000 selling 'BP Cares' T-shirts. Surprised?
I'm not sure if surprised is the word. The T-shirt thing happened very organically, so it's been interesting to see it grow. The whole thing started as a joke. Some people read my tweets and they were FURIOUS. I would respond to these people by saying variations on "I'm sorry you're upset, send me your address and I'll send you a free 'BP Cares' T -shirt." Soon after that, someone created the hashtag #iwantmybptshirt, and I realized I should make it into something. I loved the idea of people on Twitter demanding that BP send them a free T-shirt to make up for the oil spill. I soon realized I could probably sell these shirts. We came up with the design and had them up on an online store all in one day. Then we had to find an organization to donate the money toward, and the Gulf Restoration Network seemed like a perfect fit. For the record, we've made more than $10,000. There will be another donation very soon.
That's terrific. This all reminds me of Mike Mitchell, the 'I'm With Coco' artist, who just did something for kicks and saw it become a massive movement. But yours is drawing corporate ire and getting the attention of this massive oil company. Is this experience going to affect your life professionally or personally?
I'm very familiar with Mike Mitchell's work. He's been a supporter of this whole thing and he even made a graphic
[displayed at right] I posted over the weekend. Honestly, I sure hope it affects my professional life. I would like to get paid to write and do these types of social experiments for a living.
Will you come out of anonymity to make that happen? Are you at all afraid of being a regular guy taunting such a massive corporation?
The reason I remain anonymous is because this isn't about me. I feel like if I did reveal myself, people would want to know more about me and less about BP. I'm actually very happy to remain anonymous.
PopEater's Five Favorite Tweets from @BPGlobalPR:
1. Beverly Hillbillies marathon on TBS - now THESE guys knew what to do with an oil leak!
2. Catastrophe is a strong word, let's all agree to call it a whoopsie daisy.
3. Just saw new satellite images of the spill. Actually, it kinda looks like the Earth has a beauty mark! Ooolala! @CindyCrawford
4. We cannot confirm or deny the rumors that a smoke monster has emerged from the gulf. J/K! What will we do with our time once Lost ends!?!
5. Dropping everything to work on our "Oil Slickers" movie script. Hopefully Billy Crystal is available/willing to work with oil.
How long are you planning on having us laughing and retweeting?
As long as BP keeps bullsh***ing. If they're going to spend $50 million on advertising, I'm going to go out of my way to break their b**ls.
So there's your Twitter, the very funny fake Paramount account ... who else would you create fake Twitter feeds for? Any big celebs you think you could slay in 140 characters or less, tweeting as them?
Honestly, I'm not really interested in skewering celebrities. I like the idea of creating original characters on Twitter, which is why Terry is my absolute favorite part of this whole thing.
[Ed note: Terry is the fictional BP exec created as an offshoot of @BPGlobalPR. Sample tweet: "I just spent 4 hours on the coast waving my wand at the ocean and yelling magic words."] I love writing for Terry, because I literally can't make him too stupid. I have ideas for other accounts, but I probably won't start on those until this is over.
What celebrities do you enjoy following?
I really like Roger Ebert. I feel like he's in a place where he just doesn't care what people think of him. Also, it's an amazing way for a guy with no voice to be able to communicate in real time. I was insanely happy when he retweeted us. I appreciate
Sh** My Dad Says because it's funny and I feel like Twitter is the perfect medium for what that is. I've always loved the The Onion, and I feel like
Twitter is a perfect vehicle for their headlines as well. I also like to see glimpses into the day to day of people I would normally never know, like porn stars or Weird Al. That's kind of fascinating to me.
Read more: What Celebs Are Doing and Saying About the BP Oil Spill
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Who Should Play Christian & Anastasia In 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'?
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I'm glad to see someone else outraged with BP. They're idiots...Didn't even have a back up plan in case something happened...They should be boycotted and fined for all of the fishermen that are out of work, for affecting tourism and for killing wildlife and sea creatures.
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Very surprised this ghost writer not making a living writing - very witty and entertaining. LOVED IT! David Letterman's people should be calling.
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i think BP was really going for a "black smoker" so they wouldn't have to shell out the money to install sulfur dioxide
scrubbers in their plants. they could just build a new pipeline
to the spill site and inject the collected S02 in the well head
where it would be used to help the new ecosystem thet are creating.
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Here's more fuel for his column. In Florida BP has the nerve to add a surcharge that varies between .04 & .08 cents a gal for using a credit card. These guy's are destroying our eco system while sticking it to the few customers they still have. Hopefully they'll bask in their mess.
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Least we forget WW 2 and how many ships were sunk and still leaking oil . But BP is laced with to much studitly. Shorcuts don't work and more BP.
Give your selves a vacation on the Gulf Coast. YOU need a rest.
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I think a revision of the Battle of New Orleans would be appropriate. It appears that we will have to throw the British out of America again.
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I want to fan the flames a little. For anyone interested find the United Kingdon edition of TopGear from 6/2009 or another British magazine titled Car from 2009 (Issue 568) and see all the cars available in Europe getting - ready for it - 45-70 mpg!!!! Then ask why those cars aren't available here - I think you know the answer. Get Mad and ACT!!!!
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How is it not appropriate? BP's laziness caused one of the worst environmental disasters in history and I think a twitter mockery is the least that should be inflicted upon them.
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Her picture is in the dictionary next to SKANK.
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If BP had "OIL SKILLS" they would have a backup plan.
Looking at all that oil moving reminds me of a room in my house I go to when I'm so moved.
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BP stands for "broken Pipe", "blown Project", "bad Project"
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Everyone wants to dig BP, but how is it that no one wants to take their share of the blame for using the nice products made from crude.
We are gluttens for energy, not to mention wastefull.
SOOO, make BP fix it and clean it up. Then look at what you can do to reduce the need. Otherwise we are all messing up the eco system, not just BP.
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Isn't it a bit ironic the BP used to be called GULF???
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no dear it is sohio
one thing u must all understand is that bp does not own the gas stations any more they sold them all two yrs ago all they own is the oil and yes i am angry too because i work at a gas station that also sells the oil bp is not the only site that sells the gas and the only one that does not sell it is shell
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That's why you can't really boycott BP. Because it franchises everything out to the local stations. So, when you don't buy the gas, the manager or station owner still has to foot the bill out of their own pocket. The best thing we can do to try to help the situation is like we've always done, PEACEful protest, marches, rallies, and calling and writing to Congress.
I like this. I think everything in our power, legal, public relations, financially, to help make BP and big oil safer. This helps raise awareness to people who may not be as in tune with what is happening with the spill. Thanks for the hard work. Maine Security Systems
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Never heard of sohio...but in Alabama all the Gulf stations became BP. My Gulf card was replaced with a BP...which I did not keep.
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BP really needs to step up their response to this crisis. Its getting to be too much. Good thing their stock has been plummeting. There ready for a hostile takeover!
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BP doesn`t have enough money or can pump enough oil to pay everyone for the damage they have done.Not only to the fisherman but all the tourism that will be lost for many years,the homes lost from forclosers and sunny beaches with black tar in the waters making even swimming a health risk.I feel so sorry for the people and wildlife being destroyed and hope those responsible will pay with prison time.
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