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Shell Oil's Web Minus Zero Dog & Pony Show Misses the Point

While the only way the rest of us can afford to get around on anymore are dogs and ponies, Shell Oil and a bunch of its friendly top executives are bringing a genuine old-fashioned dog and pony show to 50 towns near you this summer. Their goal? To convince angry consumers that Big Oil really is not ripping them off. It's sure to be complete with photo ops and baby kissing. And it ought to be called the Web Minus Zero spin tour. And you can be certain that it was the brainchild of a PR agency or Shell's PR department, because they really believe that all this new media, new age crap has nothing to do with them. One of them told me that only yesterday.

John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co.and other top execs, plan to meet with "everyone from average Americans struggling to pay rising prices at the pump to city officials and governors" on their tour, which recently kicked off in Dallas.

Business is the art of extracting money from another man's pocket without resorting to violence. Max Amsterdam

"The industry and Shell has a responsibility to explain what we do, why we do it and how we do it to the American people, and we don't do enough of it," Hofmeister said. (What? You thought he'd mention alternative fuels?)

On the first leg of the tour, in Dallas, Spinmeister, uh, Hofmeister followed the Big Oil line that "We are an oil-based economy. Fossil fuels will remain the heart of our energy system."

Wrongo! Joining the conversation does not mean repeating the same tired top down message with a smile while people can't afford to turn on their air-conditioners or fill the gas tank in their gas guzzling SUVs.

You want to talk Mr. Spinmeister? Tell us what Big Oil is doing to develop alternative energy sources, to curb pollution, to slow global warming. This Shell Tour is nothing but an old-fashioned PR plot to control the message and change public opinion. Too late! The time for justifying oil dependency is long gone. It left around the same time as the illusion of message control.

Categories: Worst Practices

BL Ochman | Jun 28 06 4:54 | TrackBack (0)

Comments

Totally agree with you, but you can't just blame big oil. They didn't MAKE you buy that gas-guzzling SUV.

Not like that's something that they can say to their customers...

Interesting conundrum. Would love to see what your suggestions for a different plan might be.

Posted by: Andrea at June 28, 2006 5:37 PM

A different plan might include:
- contributing a substantial sum of money to a serious program for the development of alternative fuel
- creating programs to help people who are in danger of freezing to death or frying because they can't afford heating oil or electricity
- doing some substantial good with all the money they are making
- giving key execs a year off to work in alternative energy think tanks

in other words, show that they give a damn about people and the planet.

Instead, they are out there trying to convince people that they are right. Too late, no matter how much money they throw at PR, everyone knows they are a bunch of piglets making obscene sums of money.

no, they didn't make anyone buy an SUV. but they could be putting some money into a coalition with the dying auto industry to come up with cars that really don't guzzle gas.

Posted by: B.L. Ochman at June 28, 2006 6:03 PM

Wow, BL. This was harsh even by your standards.

From your tone, it appears that anything Shell would say wouldn't be enough.

There are substantial hurdles with alternative fuels that will take decades to overcome -- lack of infrastructure is one. Safety is another. The people who are spinning are those who say we can transition from an oil-based economy quickly and easily.

Posted by: John Wagner at June 29, 2006 10:11 AM

Of course transition from an oil-based economy won't be quick. Given politics and corporate behavior, it may never even happen.

But it has to begin somewhere. And if Hofmeister is going to take the time to tour the country and talk to people, he ought to have more on his agenda than talking about how great BigOil is.

The issue is whether Shell is going to be part of the problem or part of the solution. If he had something to offer about new initiatives for progress > then this dog and pony show could be something more than a waste of shareholder's money.

Posted by: B.L. Ochman at June 29, 2006 11:58 AM

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About BL Ochman

Blogger, social media strategy consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and sought-after corporate speaker B.L. Ochman heads the creative team of whatsnextonline.com. She also publishes the Ethics Crisis blog for SRF Global Translations

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