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The Chairman of BP has made some statements that will likely not help the company’s already stained public image:
BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg gave a press conference after BP’s four hour meeting with Obama at the White House. During his statement, he disputed the claim the the oil giant didn’t care about gulf residents, stating that BP cares about “small people.” English is a second language for Svanberg, who is Swedish, but reporters took note of his demeaning phrasing, and shouted questions about what he meant after he spoke, which he did not answer.
The exact quote was:
“we care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies or greedy companies that don’t care, but that is not the case at BP. We care about the small people.”
Click here to read more.
The moment it was understood and attributed to the delicacy of translation when spoken by a man for whom English is not a first language, it was essentially forgotten (except in stories like this) and quickly remedied by a thoughtful and timely second apology by the speaker. Much ado about nothing. What would have been an interesting story to read is about how the apology came to be made in the first place and how heartfelt it seemed. To be a fly on the wall in the room when the Swedish CEO and Obama finally spoke alone would have been the work of a fine reporter, none of which turned in such a story even based on what they imagined transpired. You missed the real story here.
npr did an item on this earlier today – interviewed a Mississippi fisherman who said (I paraphrase): I don’t care what he calls us as long as he cuts a check”