With oil continuing to gush out of BP’s broken oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and images of the accident’s effects flashing across television and computer screens everywhere, some Washington area drivers are staying away from the oil giant’s pumps in protest.
Station owners are saying, however, that a boycott is not going to do anything other than run small, independently owned businesses into the ground.
“As we are franchisers, we suffer,” said Ranjit Singh, owner of a BP station in Alexandria. “If anything happens to my station, I still have to pay for it. “If we lose business, BP is not going to pay us anything.”
Singh estimated his station has seen a 10 percent decrease in sales in the past week.
According to BP, of the 9,700 BP-branded sites in the Eastern United States, the majority of them are owned and operated by jobbers, dealers and franchisers. The company echoes many franchisers’ sentiments.
“Unfortunately, any boycotts will impact small business operators of these BP sites,” said a BP spokesman.
Shahzad Aslam, owner of a BP station in the District for 11 years, said he’s witnessed a 40 percent dip in sales at his pumps. He also had protesters trying to deter customers as they walked through the door.
After going outside and convincing protesters to leave, they stay away for a while and come back later, he said.
Meanwhile, the BP boycott movement has steadily gained steam. Several Facebook pages related to the cause have been created, with one garnering the support of more than 600,000 users.
D.C.-based citizens’ advocacy group Public Citizen is encouraging consumers to pledge to boycott BP and all of its related brands, including Arco and Castrol, for at least three months. According to a running tally posted on the organization’s Web site more than 21,000 have made the pledge.
Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, said the boycott is not as focused on hurting BP’s sales as it is on damaging its image.
“It’s aimed at hurting a well-crafted brand they’ve made,” said Slocum, citing the company’s efforts to rebrand itself as “Beyond Petroleum.”
As for the franchise owners, Slocum said they should be up in arms, as well.
“They shouldn’t be mad at us,’ he said. “They should be mad at BP for acting negligently in the Gulf.” “They should be demanding to be able to break from their contracts penalty-free.”
