Boycotting BP: Who Gets Hurt?

June 2, 2010— -- Boycotts of BP filling stations are popping up all over the country amid the growing frustration over the company's failed efforts to stop a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. But if the goal is to hurt BP's bottom line, then such efforts, not unlike those to cap the spewing undersea well, could be in vain.

"Retail gasoline sales account for such a tiny part of BP revenues, the impact of even a massive boycott would be negligible," said Phil Flynn, an energy analyst at Chicago-based PFG Best. "Such boycotts would end up hurting the wrong people."

That's because of the roughly 10,000 BP filling stations/convenience stores in the United States, the vast majority are independently operated, either by small regional distributors or individual franchise owners. All BP branded stores, as well as Amoco, which is owned by BP, are located east of the Rocky Mountains.

"I would urge consumers to think about who actually gets hurt with their boycotts," said John Kleine, executive director of Savannah, Georgia-based BPAMA, a trade group representing BP and Amoco gas station/convenience store owners and operators. "Ultimately, small, local entrepreneurs and their families are the ones who get hurt, and not necessarily BP."

Nevertheless, protests and boycotts appear to be heading into overdrive:

Jesse Jackson has called for a boycott of BP and appeared at a protest event in Chicago last week along with the head of the Illinois Sierra Club. A few years ago, Jackson urged a boycott of BP, complaining of unfair hiring practices.