BP Rhetorical Analysis

Early in the morning, before the rising of the sun, an ageing man wakes on the coast and readies himself for a morning of fishing. He goes through the routine he has accustomed himself to over the past decades. After several minutes, he sets off down the coast, watching the first hints of the sunrise lighten the sky on his left. He trudges along toward a dock, his usually spot. Upon reaching it, however, he notices something unfamiliar for the first time that day: the presence of black, sludge like material, roiling in the wake of recently arrived wave. He stares curiously, attempting to make out more clearly what it might be in the faint dawn light. As the sun continues to rise, he sees more and more of the brackish material has washed up

Hayward were almost as notable as those he did use. For although he heavily leaned on the usage of avoidance of responsibility and corrective action in his speech, he never actually denied that BP had caused it; he did however, heavily infer that they were not solely responsible. He also categorically avoided any use of mortification, while still employing its semblance in personal terms when he stated that he was “deeply sorry” about the spill (Hayward 2005). BP’s largest failure in restoring their image was not taking the blame for the spill immediately. The public turned on them almost unanimously, but would have had been less likely to attack and ostracize BP if they had simply accepted the blame that the world had already laid on their shoulders as their own. Hayward also avoided the reduction of offense strategy; for, he appeared to fully admit the harm caused by the spill to the local environment, wildlife and economy. His only failing in this regard was to attribute blame to BP. BP failed to correctly judge the situation or correctly predict the level of public outcry resulting from the environmental harm done. Mr. Hayward claimed “to fully grasp the terrible reality of the situation” (Hayward 2005). However; if this were true, then he would likely have chosen to utilize contrition and mortification in his speech, rather than blame aversion and corrective action with a not so subtle dose of denial thrown added for good measure.

The oil spill was a terrible crisis, not only for the ocean, wildlife and local economy, but also for the corporate image of BP. I view their image restoration strategy to be ineffective in understanding the social climate of the public’s view, and even less effective at restoring faith in the company. The company chose to seek to avoid blame and focus on corrective action, rather than reduce the severity of the offense of mortify