Put the BP Oil Spill in Your Own Backyard

One of the most brilliant pieces of environmental PR I have ever seen is IfItWasMyHome.com. Basically, it takes a visualization of the British Petroleum oil spill and lets you use Google maps to put it wherever you want– for example, here’s what it would look like if it was in my hometown of Prince George (which is engulfed, along with large tracts of wilderness and half-a-dozen other communities). Now, I was aware this was a huge disaster, but seeing it visualized over a tract of land that I actually understand makes it hit that much closer to home which is, of course, the point. I’m curious to see how people would react to this on other things– putting the Site C dam in Vancouver, for example, and then finding out how voters felt about the project.
Another great reaction to the spill is the BPGlobalPR Twitter account, which is essentially a satire of the BP public relations team, tweeting such comments as “I’ve gotta say, at night the gulf really doesn’t look that bad.” and “Listen, we were just drilling into the Earth’s crust a mile beneath the ocean with shoddy off switches. Don’t blame us!” A designer has turned some of these Tweets into posters, some of which I’ve shared here (thanks to bikesbooksbaking for the tip-off).