There is no doubt that the reckless oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico makes us all angry. We want to “punish” the bad guys and not make them money by buying their products. Some consumers have even stopped buying their gas from BP gas stations in the U.S. But does this hurt BP?
It doesn’t hurt BP. The BP gas stations are independent small business owners. They are members of your local community, not a big giant oil conglomerate.
So while you may want to strike out at BP, not buying gasoline at your local BP station only hurts a small business owner like you.
Or am I missing something?
In my humble opinion, I guess is not so much about “punishing” the bad guys, but is actually about doing what is right.
If you see some display of unacceptable behavior, would you rather look the other way around than to do something about it (however small?).
In today’s world, if we know that our neighbor is an aggressive driver and speeds most of the time, we tend not to do anything about it. Sure, you could take action, like trying to talk with him or even reporting, although that action would not make a dent on US aggressive drivers. And it might actually end up backfiring on you.
But is either that or simply sit silently in your car when we cuts you off again. Sigh… and keep driving. And hope that you are not involved in the accident that is prone to happen.
“What are we? Lemmings?” said Robin Williams.
Exaggerating this, it kinds of reminds me to not been able to do a thing when you see someone stealing from an old lady because you might lose your job if you try to stop the burglar. (Sprint guys, keybank teller, walmart guy)… but I digress.
Yes, we have the option to ignore the whole deal and think to ourselves “it would be stupid to attempt to boycott a company this big”. And keep buying their products, despite that you see the damage that they have caused and how they don’t take responsibility of it… by faking to care and using 1% of their daily revenue on efforts to kind of clean the mess they caused.
I don’t buy gas from BP, ARCON or any Castrol product anymore. Does it makes a dent? I don’t think they notice / care. But I won’t feel good with myself if I buy a product from these monsters that have caused so much damage on American soil, sands and waters.
With regards to the small owners… well, yes I guess it hurts them. And it sucks to be them. On the other hand, I don’t feel I’m hurting my community, as my business stays local (is not like I’m traveling to Mexico to buy gas from Pemex from now on… which I guess I could).
But is like…, for exmaple, I have decided not to buy pirated DVDs.
I know I’m hurting my neighbor (who sells high quality pirated DVDs). I’m not making a dent on piracy. The people who control piracy don’t even care if I buy it (as they won’t see a dime of the 2 bucks I would pay my neighbor for “Date Night”). They already have their profits.
But again, is just about doing the right thing.
Yeah I can hear you before you write: “Is not the same… piracy is a crime”. Well, what BP did is one of the worst crimes committed against mother earth. That’s worse than any typified crime.
Small owners should close their BP pumps. I would totally buy from their stores, just not from their pumps. In any case, their business will continue to go down… but that’s the price they also have to pay.
I’m a bit of a nerd so I have to mention this: I remember the discussion from the movie “Clerks”, regarding that “any contractors working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when the space station was destroyed by the rebels”, and how that was immoral. And from the same movie, I quote the roofer’s response:
“I’m alive because I knew there were risks involved taking on that particular client. My friend wasn’t so lucky.
You know, any contractor willing to work on that Death Star knew the risks. If they were killed, it was their own fault. A roofer listens to this… (taps his heart)… not his wallet.”
And that’s why I would never work for an oil company, nor buy from BP / ARCON / Castrol ever again. Not because of a boycott. Not because I want to punish them.
Just because I feel and believe that’s the right thing to do.
Again, just my humble opinion.
Hi Barry,
Small businesses are having a hard enough time staying afloat-local franchises, included.
The Gulf oil disaster has nothing to do with your locally owned BP staions, folks.
So, fill er up!
(I was interviewed by Cleveland’s NBC station on Friday, about this very topic)
It’s on The Franchise King Blog.
The Franchise King®
I love it Joel- Fill er UP!
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