The Wake up CALL!!!

OIL SPILLS: ITS DEVASTATING EFFECT ABROAD!

BP's name now is inextricably linked with the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. No amount of public relations razzle-dazzle can change that reality.

And while oil still is pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, almost any step that even seems like PR has a risk of backfiring.

"They've created a Frankenstein of a PR problem," says Howard Rubenstein, the New York publicist who cleans up PR messes for some of the nation's top companies, executives and celebrities. "They tried to minimize it at the beginning, but you can't do that in a crisis of this magnitude."

There's one action that BP should take immediately, without federal prodding, Rubenstein says: Set up a fast process to put billions of dollars into the hands of Americans whose lives and livelihoods the oil spill has damaged. "Several billion dollars is minuscule compared to (the goodwill) BP could earn from doing the right thing."

After the oil stops gushing, however, there are steps BP could take to begin to rehabilitate its image, say corporate image gurus and public relations executives:

•Go ultra-green. BP should become the oil industry's pro-environment leader with a number of substantive, concrete actions, say Lynne Doll, president of The Rogers Group, a crisis communications specialist.

•Offer free gasoline. The free gas should go to churches, schools and charities in affected areas, and steep discounts should go to area residents for a specific time period, says Gene Grabowski, senior vice president at Levick Strategic Communications, a crisis management specialist.

•Assemble a panel. It should be an independent panel of experts to take the long view of the crisis, Grabowski says.

•Listen to residents. The best way to build credibility is by listening instead of talking, says Blake Lewis, a crisis communications specialist and board member of the Public Relations Society of America. BP should host regular town meetings with community members.

•Personalize BP. Make public heroes of community members and BP workers who took extraordinary actions, Doll says.

•Fire the culprit. The person judged ultimately responsible for the leak should get the ax, whether it's the head of deepwater drilling or the CEO, Doll says.

•Poll the public. Regular, in-depth public polling should take place now and for months to come to find out what actions the public supports and what actions it doesn't, Doll says.

•Share the data. All that BP learns should be shared with government officials, academics and rivals, Lewis says. "BP has an awesome responsibility to be a good steward of information."

•Be humble. After the oil leak stops, don't brag, Lewis warns. "There should be no first-person declarations of victory."

•Change its name. Some negative name baggage can't be fixed. It's why ValuJet, scarred by a 1996 crash, is now AirTran and it's why Philip Morris tobacco became Altria in 2003, Doll says. "It's a huge undertaking that will be problematic and expensive, but it has to be done."