BP and the airheads

One of the most bizarre things to come out of the Gulf oil spill is the move to boycott BP. I wonder if anyone participating in the boycott actually understands what they are doing. First of all, the boycott against BP gas stations may hurt BP in a very small way, but more likely it will hurt the owners of the BP stations themselves and the employees at those stations. BP does not own each of the gas stations that carry the BP name; most are franchises. Second, much of the oil produced by BP is sold at gas stations that operate under other names like Sunoco, Mobil, Exxon and the like. If BP produces crude oil and sells it to another refiner, there is no way of knowing where that oil ends up. Second, even for oil refined by BP, there is a big likelihood that the bulk of the production goes to stations that are not called by the BP name. The business is just too intertwined for consumers to figure out which product actually comes from BP. Much of the output from BP refineries ends up at other companies' stations.

So a boycott of BP will hurt American small businessmen and their employees and it will leave BP virtually unharmed. congratulations to the geniuses who thought that one up.