Are Your Communications On Message? How About "On Reality"?

Yesterday's New York Times had a wonderful, pathetic example of what happens when reality collides with corporate happy-speak.

On page 11 of the A-section (for those of you who haven't recycled yesterday's news already), there's a full-page ad from BP headlined, "We will get it done. We will make this right."

In the body of the ad, there are these claims: "We have organized the largest environmental response in this country's history. More than three million feet of boom, 30 planes and over 1,300 boats are working to protect the shoreline. When oil reaches the shore, thousands of people are ready to clean it up."

Sounds good, doesn't it? (Actually, sounds like the very least that BP could do.)

Unfortunately, there's a news article just a few pages later, from John Leland in Pensacola Beach, FL (click here), headlined "Local Officials Simmer Over BP Recovery Efforts".

In it, Leland quotes William A. Lee, executive director of the Santa Rosa Island Authority (which oversees Pensacola Beach):

We called BP at 4:30 this morning and told them to send cleanup crews... It's 9:30 and they're not here. There's supposed to be 30 or 40 skimmers out there to protect Pensacola Beach. Do you see any? BP dropped the ball.

The cleanup crews, according to reports from the Times and NPR, arrived around 11.30. Oops.

Remember "Under-promise, over-deliver"?