In real life, it's impossible to clean up an oil spill — but that doesn't mean you can't pretend. Or so says Greenpeace in a new video parodying BP's promises to "restore" the ecology of the Gulf of Mexico. Spoofing a well-known infomercial for ShamWow! ultra-absorbant towels, the Greenpeace video suggests that BP is using "ScamWow!" products to "magically" sanitize the company's toxic image, and create the impression that the damage from the spill can ever be fixed. This ad is hilarious, says Caroline Sloan in Bliss Tree. Unfortunately, it also "reminds us of the actual environmental trouble we’re all in." The "scary part," says Brendan DeMelle in the Huffington Post, "is that the ScamWow! spoof isn't too far off the actual claims made by BP." Watch the ScamWow! ad below:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
-
Children's health has declined in the USThe Explainer It's likely a sign of larger systemic issues
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checksSpeed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for ArizonaSpeed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
