Before becoming the public face and private pocketbook of the environmentally devastating Gulf oil spill, BP spent years rebranding itself as an environmentally friendly energy company under the tagline "Beyond Petroleum." All the while, according to new lawsuits, the very profitable oil giant was putting its workers and the environment at risk by skimping on relatively cheap safeguards. Will BP's attempt to paint itself as green make it harder for the company to recover from the Gulf spill disaster? (Watch a Fox report about BP's suffering image)
BP's green campaign deepens the company's troubles: "Irony isn't good for business," says Eric Dezenhall in The Daily Beast, and it's certainly ironic that BP's "curious embrace of flower power" could now leave it "hoisted upon its own sunflower petard." BP's green pretensions make it a ripe target for "withering scrutiny," and if it the Gulf spill drags on, "'Beyond Petroleum' may become the corporate cousin of 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.'"
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