With BP's sponsorship of the Tate gallery under attack from all sides, BP is keen to make out that it doesn't get much in return for its philanthropic support for the arts.
But some emails we've got hold of under a Freedom of Information request give us a little glimpse that, besides using arts sponsorship to cultivate a socially acceptable face for its devastating operations, BP isn't averse to using it to help grease the way towards bigger shareholder profits.
Here's the chummy email from BP's European Regulatory Affairs Manager to a senior figure at the European Commission. They're discussing a new biofuels official at the commission, who BP would like to 'make a connection' with.
From: Simon Worthington @ BP
To: Peter Vis @ The European Commission
RE: Your biofuels colleague
No problem – I thought it would be good just to make a connection – I don't want to put any pressure on him – I know some like meeting with stakeholders and others don't so please let him know that its more the connection rather than the lobbying – Maybe we can help with the learning curve – I have a lot of material here on Biofuels I can share with him.
By the way – let me know if you have an urge for the Opera – We are off skiing for a week this Sat
Thanks for your help
Simon
[The bolded text is mine.]
BP, of course, sponsors the Royal Opera House as well as the Tate, so any urge for the opera is something they can help to assuage quite easily. Unsurprising maybe, but the email is a reminder that BP's interest in the arts isn't quite as distinct from its business interests as they might have us believe.
There's more over at The Guardian.
The rebranded BP logo above is one of the 2000+ entries to our Behind the Logo contest
