BP's 'incredibly amateur' Photoshop scandal

BP, arguably the world's most despised corporate entity, was accused this week of doctoring a photograph of its oil-spill crisis control center. In what's being called an "incredibly amateur" Photoshop job, the company grafted images of the underwater camera feed onto what had previously been blank computer monitors. (See the photo in question.) Scott Dean, a BP spokesperson, said there was "nothing sinister" about the changes, claiming that the photographer in question was simply trying to make the scene "more panoramic." Here's what the more biting bloggers and pundits had to say:

"I guess if you're doing fake crisis response, you might as well fake a photo of the crisis response center."

— Americablog's John Aravosis, who discovered the Photoshop job.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Apparently BP is no more adept at doctoring photos than it is at plugging deep-sea oil leaks."

— Steven Mufson, The Washington Post

"Photoshopping to make things look better for yourself is anything but innovative...if you cut corners (literally and figuratively), you'll probably get caught and wish you could Photoshop yourself out of an awkward PR situation."

— Ashley Braun, Grist

"BP, which has a great track record of owning up to its mistakes, is laying the blame on the photographer... Pretty sure the photographer caused the oil spill, now that I think about it."

— Max Read, Gawker

"Perhaps BP needs to refudiate the use of Photoshop."

— @darrellferguson via Twitter