Shell's PR @ work

[Robert Cotter <rcotter@mindspring.com>]

  SCOTSMAN 03/10/97 P7 
  
  : OIL COMPANY SPOUTS CARING, SHARING IMAGE AS WHALE SAVED.
  
  CHRISTOPHER CAIRNS Environment Correspondent.
  
  A PILOT whale is the latest creature to benefit from the caring, sharing
  oil
  industry - and its story is the latest in a barrage of feelgood
  publicity
  from Shell, Texaco, BP and every other company sensitive about its
  environmental image.
  
  The wayward mammal, normally found much further north, had taken a
  liking to
  Shell's Sedco 704 mobile rig, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, in recent
  days.
  
  But it was not just the whale's sense of direction which was out. Its
  timing
  also left a lot to be desired. For rig workers were laying explosives to
  blow
  up the wellhead before moving on to the next job.
  
  Rather than risk harming the whale, nicknamed Willy by the oil company,
  Shell
  sent for mechanical dismantling equipment instead - a long procedure
  which
  cost the company an estimated L200,000.
  
  "We had no hesitation in playing the perfect host," said a Shell
  director,
  Malcolm Brinded. "We have the utmost respect for the marine animals we
  come
  across in our operations and will continue to do everything within our
  power
  to make sure that they are disturbed as little as possible."
  
  However, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Shell
  may
  have been legally obliged not to harm the whale.
  
  Shell is one of the companies involved in the recent expansion of oil
  exploration into the North Atlantic, which environmentalists claim
  threatens
  much more than one pilot whale.
  
  "Their action to save this whale is commendable but we would just wish
  Shell
  showed the same level of concern for the environment in general," said
  Pete
  Roche, of Greenpeace.
  
  "The Atlantic frontier has been described as a whale motorway and the
  seismic
  testing Shell and other companies carry out there has the potential to
  damage
  many thousands of whales and dolphins."
  
  The Brent Spar saga more than two years ago was followed by
  international
  condemnation of Shell's role in Nigeria where protests against its
  operations
  led by Ken Saro-wiwa were brutally repressed by government forces.
  
  Since then the company has spent millions promoting its image, from
  supporting environmental projects to giving blow-by-blow descriptions of
  progress towards safely disposing of the Brent Spar.
  
  Texaco made much of its efforts to save 50 seabirds caught in an oil
  spill
  from its Captain Field in the North Sea, airlifting the stricken birds
  for
  cleaning.
  
  This week, BP's chief executive, John Browne, warned of the dangers of
  global
  warming and the need to curb carbon emissions - despite his company's
  leading
  role in drilling for more fossil fuels in the Atlantic.
  
  Andy Prothero, a lecturer in marketing at Stirling University, said the
  companies were following other big businesses which have turned to
  positive
  advertising to try to put themselves in a better light.
  
  "When the Body Shop came in for criticism about what was in its
  products, it
  simply bombarded the media and public with politically-correct
  advertising
  and campaigns," Ms Prothero said.
  
  "It is legitimate to ask why oil companies are telling us about certain
  stories and environmental schemes they are involved in - many of which
  they
  are legally obliged to do in the first place."
  
  Her colleague at the university, Pierre McDonagh, said: "The whale story
  is
  an example of a corporation involved in 'communicating with strategic
  intent'
  - in this case to prove its good citizenry.