BP's Prophetic 1999 Advertisement [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Hi, I am hilariously wrong, the ad is a fake! Enthusiasm outpaced the better angels of discernment. Everyone should go back to having an infinitesimal degree of greater faith in BP and in the divinity that shapes our ends.

_____________

This has already been making the rounds on some of the blogs I read on a regular basis, but in case you missed it -- and are in need of some gallows humor today -- let's ponder this prophetic advertisement that BP produced back in 1999. I'm guessing they'd like to forget it:

In related news, I've been urging readers to keep track of the superlative work that Sarabeth Guthberg has been doing chronicling the way the spill rate from the Deepwater Horizon rupture keeps slowly moving past those quaint 5,000- barrels-a-day estimates from the early days of the disaster. Remember when Thad Allen came on the teevee to offer the official Coast Guard estimate as a "low end 12,000 barrels a day, to high 19,000 to 25,000 barrels a day?" Well, you'll never guess where we appear to be today!

But now that BP says it is collecting 15,000 barrels a day, and oil continues to gush out from the leak at a fast and furious rate, the WSJ has taken a bold step forward:

Up to 25,000 barrels of oil a day have been leaking from the well, according to a government estimate. A move to cut the pipe last week to prepare for the cap was expected to increase the flow by 20%.

In one swift stroke, "12,000 to 19,000" has turned into not just "up to 25,000", but 20% more than that.

Guthberg goes on to note that officials hope that the containment effort will be augmented by a "second containment system" that will be in place in July. Until then, Allen says that BP will be able to capture 28,000 barrels a day. And, as Guthberg notes, "that's still not going to be all the oil."

RELATED:
BP Spill Rate: Some New (And Improved) Developments [1115]

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to [e-mail] -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Comments

[Hokey Pokey]

09:52 AM on 06/10/2010

In a break between hand wringing this morning, I put some lotion on my hands. I noticed it was made of petrochemicals. I took a vitamin from a petrochemical bottle. I would have taken a drive for a diversion, but the gas gauge of my hybrid was E. I had no sidewalks to walk on, and no safe bicycle path. Life wasn't always bound at every turn with oil products, but just take stock for a few minutes. Even progressives will need to make massive changes if our society detoxes.

[jgdesr1]

08:17 AM on 06/10/2010

Yes, they have done a very good job of this. A little too good a job. And now, the citizens of these shores are going to take not only the oil, but every last cent this company has.

[fiberoptimist]

06:56 AM on 06/10/2010

This would be funny if it weren't so sad. BP = Beyond Plumbing.

[MotorcycleBoy]

05:25 PM on 06/10/2010

BP= Biggest Polluters.

[ctblue]

12:45 PM on 06/11/2010

Beyond Pathetic.

[Mike Turner]

06:18 AM on 06/10/2010

the ad used to be on youtube but got pulled the spin doctors are hard at work

[Mike Turner]

06:16 AM on 06/10/2010

Here's the real deal a BP ad about giving life...

http://videosostav.ru/video/b3d37df23e980912ecf5f52c3a63cae6/

[JohnSawyer]

05:42 AM on 06/10/2010

This resembles a paraphrase of the Family Guy skit:

"Oh no they DIN'T."

"Oh yes they DID."

"Oh no they DIN'T."

"YES THEY DID PETER, I CAN SEE IT RIGHT HERE!...wait a minute, you're right--they din't."

[Stuzzadelic]

03:59 AM on 06/10/2010

A couple of us posted our own 103,000 barrels a day estimates a couple of weeks ago. We know what's up. HP posters should be running the country!

[G FORCE]

03:14 AM on 06/10/2010

Boycott of BP!!!
Join Facebook boycott of BP:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=116094405092992

[wdw505]

05:21 AM on 06/10/2010

no i will not be boycotting as boycotts do not work and bp is the closest station by 2 miles.......my company will still be using bp until another station that carries diesel is built closer to my shop...... 3:30 everyday my trucks are filled up on one transaction......... it is easier to keep theft down

[monstermash9]

01:27 PM on 06/12/2010

And that's why corruption is rampant in our political fields. Thanks for that.

[Eyeful]

01:02 AM on 06/10/2010

That ad might be fake, but this sign at their station isn't.
http://jalopnik.com/5555628/bp-station-sign-is-beyond-irony

[tahoegal]

12:38 AM on 06/10/2010

BP logo should be one of the most heartbreaking, pathetic, sad looking oil covered birds - now THAT would get them the recognition they deserve.

[dixiecrat238]

12:59 AM on 06/10/2010

I think it's appropriate. It's an artistic rendition of the Deepwater Horizon exploding.

[G FORCE]

03:15 AM on 06/10/2010

Boycott of BP!!!
Join Facebook boycott of BP:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=116094405092992

[techcafe]

10:53 PM on 06/09/2010

i kinda like BP's new logo:
http://files.me.com/techcafe/51vlni

[MotorcycleBoy]

07:04 PM on 06/10/2010

how about the one I'm using as my avatar?

[techcafe]

08:03 PM on 06/10/2010

oooh, i like that one even better. did you do it yourself?

[d0440er]

08:59 PM on 06/09/2010

Couldn't expect any less from the new and umm.. the new HP.

[pinkeyelemonade]

07:42 PM on 06/09/2010

"Hi, I am hilariously wrong, the ad is a fake! "

It's called research, Jason.

[realitycheckers]

06:33 PM on 06/09/2010

Greenpeace UK has a "rebrand" BP logo contest. I'm assuming that this is a sampling of that batch. Clever wording. Could have fooled anyone because it's truth in advertising.

[jimspy]

06:25 PM on 06/09/2010

OK, THIS is why the brave new world of blogs & Internet news sources is really starting to scare me. Yes, a harmless gaffe this time, and even a bit "funny," but how much important stuff is going unfiltered? Call me old-fashioned, but I was just so much more comfortable getting the news from Uncle Walter and Peter Jennings and the like - I'm sure this would not have gotten through their filters. (Let's not get into Dan Rather just now...)