PRESS RELEASE

For Attention of Business/City Editor

Reclaim the Streets office: 020 7281 4621
www.reclaimthestreets.net
www.bpamoco.org.uk

Reclaim the Streets to de-brand BP re-brand
on Car Free Day.


As BP prepare for their annual general meeting on the 19th of April, London Reclaim the Streets (RTS) announce their intention to strike at the heart of the oil giant's glossy public image. 'Green' makeovers and stage-managed meetings cannot hide what goes on behind the grand facade of BP's corporate headquarters. The irony of a BP AGM on car free day was too striking for RTS to ignore.

While Greenpeace and the Free Tibet Campaign demonstrate in support of their shareholder resolutions on climate change and involvement in Tibet, Reclaim the Streets intends to give a clear message to the Directors and major shareholders meeting at the Royal Festival Hall. Some might say that BP's re-branding is beyond parody, but RTS will take up the challenge with some creative de-branding - we are not prepared to sit back while 'beyond petroleum' becomes a euphemism for 'bye-bye planet'.

"The point is that BP, like all corporations, is a money making machine," said Rod Chase from London RTS. "Its purpose - in fact its legal duty - is to maximise profits for its shareholders. Sometimes this means getting in to bed with repressive regimes. Other times it means putting up a green image. It can never shake off the underlying capitalist logic of exploitation and growth. No matter how many millions it spends on changing its image it can never be part of a solution to the social and environmental threats that face us all."

Notes to Editors

1. Reclaim the Streets is a direct action group working towards social and environmental justice.

2. BP is attempting to re-brand itself as a caring, sharing, environmentally friendly company, 'beyond petroleum', yet intends to increase oil production by approximately 5%. This flies in the face of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recommendation that carbon emissions should drop by 60-90% to halt global warming.

3. BP's involvement in Colombia has led to a close partnership with the Colombian army and their paramilitary allies. Human Rights Watch reports that trade union activists organising BP workers have been threatened and killed. In 1998 the organisation wrote to Sir John Browne, chief executive of BP, expressing concern at BP's involvement in Colombia. The full text of the letter can be found at www.hrw.org/advocacy/corporations/colombia/Oilpat-01.htm, and an extract from their 1999 World Report on the human rights record of oil companies at www.hrw.org/hrw/worldreport99/special/corporations.htm

4. The company is involved in a hearts and minds propaganda campaign against the public. BP is spending over $100 million a year on its new logo and 'beyond petroleum' tagline, a similar figure to their trumpeted investment in solar energy. More insidiously, they target children through educational programmes and 'schools link' schemes.

5. If the continuing commitment to oil was not enough to destroy its PR image, a glance at the company's bottom line reveals its true nature. Profits for 2000 exceeded $14 billion. Sir John Browne, the corporation's chief executive, earned over £5 million. BP's sole aim is to generate profits for its shareholders. Whether it achieves this by getting into bed with a repressive regime or by crowing about solar panels on a handful of filling stations is irrelevant to the company's logic of expansion and exploitation.

6. April 19th is Earth Car-Free Day: www.earthday.net/goals/carfreeday.stm


Further information can be found at www.bpamoco.org.uk (not your usual BP site!)
www.reclaimthestreets.net
www.risingtide.org.uk

Reclaim the Streets office: 020 7281 4621