In the aftermath of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well, as oil began gushing into the Gulf, British Petroleum (BP) gave the State of Florida $25 million dollars to develop and distribute advertising with the slogan “The Coast is Clear.” According to WKRG, the radio, TV, internet, and print ads were designed to “…assure wary vacationers not to cancel reservations and encourage the booking of new trips.”
This week, however, the entire campaign was pulled as oil was spotted just four miles off the panhandle coastline (nola.com).
This story boggles my mind and I’m not even exactly sure as to why… other than the overall incomprehensibility of this disaster, of course.
Why did BP give $25 million to Florida for tourism advertising? What is BP’s interest in doing so? Or was it somehow mandated? Or some weird deal with the state? Did Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas get money? What is going on?
And while my gut instinct is to be repelled by a focus on beach vacations at a time like this, I realize that the citizens of the Gulf Coast need tourists for jobs and sales tax dollars and the like. The economies of this region is going to be severely damaged (1/3rd of the Gulf is already closed to fishing) and it’s good for everyone if those who work in the tourism industry aren’t as hard hit as the fishermen and others who make a living off of the water.
Still, is advertising really where BP should be putting their money right now? Can’t we spend it on booms and training and wages for clean-up workers? Or maybe BP has more money than God and so giving Florida $25 million doesn’t in any way diminish the amount they are spending trying to plug the hole in the ocean and protect the Gulf? Perhaps money isn’t the problem so much as incompetence and the fact that we are technologically in over our heads?
I just don’t know.
UPDATE! From Reader Erin Elizabeth:
BP gave all the Gulf Coast states $25 million each to spend as they like on preparing for/recovering from the damages. Seeing as tourist are canceling right and left, and tourism is one of the area’s biggest industries, I don’t think it’s a bad use of Florida’s money. And yes, BP has more money than god: it made $66 million a day last quarter, so $25 million is loose change to them.
