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Chart Of The Day: BP's 'Buzz' Rating Plummets Below Even Toyota's

Justin Elliott | May 7, 2010, 12:54PM

BP, BP Oil Spill, Chart Of The Day, Gulf Coast Oil Spill, Toyota

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The Gulf oil spill has been such a public relations catastrophe for BP that the oil giant now scores lower on a "buzz" index than even beleaguered automaker Toyota, according to consumer research outfit YouGov BrandIndex.

The company says it interviews 5,000 Americans each weekday and asks, among other things, "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, was it positive or negative?"

The results go into a so-called buzz index in which "[a] score can range from 100 to -100 and is compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive," according to the company. "A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback."

Here's BP versus Toyota over the past few months:

Comments (7) | Join the Conversation!

Uncle Chad

May 7, 2010 1:30 PM

I can't hate BP; just look at how green their logo is. Plus, the lowercase letters suggest humility. I just don't know why people don't find them lovable anymore.

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Uncle Chad

May 7, 2010 1:35 PM

Then again, it seems to me a giant oil corporation would have a freakin' backup plan in case there was an oil leak, and not start drilling a relief well or capping it or whatever weeks afterward. Is it just me or should they have been there that day or the next solving this foreseeable problem? Grrrr.

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PushMe-PullYou

May 7, 2010 2:45 PM in reply to Uncle Chad

Maybe they should have employed an "acoustic switch" (cost: half a million bucks each) which is designed to shut down the well automatically. Norway and Brazil require them by law. U.S. with its deregulation mania does not. Instead they chose to play Russian roulette with the Gulf of Mexico.

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stupkinator

May 7, 2010 6:36 PM in reply to PushMe-PullYou

In this case the rams were activated on the BOP during evacuation. The rams jammed when shearing the well casing, otherwise we'd have even more oil flowing. I can't believe they didn't have a plan B for when all the emergency systems on the BOP failed.

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fsudirectory

May 10, 2010 9:24 AM in reply to stupkinator

Maybe those rams should have been tested at some point considering 50% failed their inspections the last time they were done.

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Turnaround

May 9, 2010 1:37 PM in reply to PushMe-PullYou

Exactly. The only difference -- and it's a big one -- is that in Russian Roulette, if you're unlucky, you die.

In this case, they took their chances, and destroyed a coastline. It's like they were pointing the gun right at US when they pulled the trigger -- not their own damn head.

What should we call that game? Republican Roulette?

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