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On April 20th 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico had failed impeccably, leading to the deaths of eleven British Petroleum (BP) workers and an oil spill that Obama called "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced." This environmental catastrophe impacted the entire Gulf ecosystem upon which directly affected the livelihoods of the local people. BP, as a result was faced with the huge task of delivering a crisis communication strategy towards not only the American people, but to the global audience. Since this disaster was an environmental one, caused by oil drilling engineering and technologies, much of the engagement by BP was of a science communication nature. However, BP was too late to respond to the crisis, since they were not able to catch up with the high speed technological culture we now live in. This is a case study of how the communication of the disaster was handled by BP, what went wrong with their strategy and how to better manage the scientific crisis communication strategy through social media platforms, such as YouTube, in the future.
About the author
Pream Kaur Neote is a Vancouver-based professional, specializing in marketing and communication of science, health, nutriceuticals, engineering and technology. Pream graduated from University College Cork with a BSc in Microbiology and an MSc in Science Communication from Dublin City University. In her spare time, Pream enjoys painting and kayaking
