there were a number of opportunities for creative thinking in the public relations efforts during the BP spill-and-gush.

but there is one creative act no one talked about in PR terms. and it could have been one of the most powerful PR acts of all time.

what if one of the heads of the competing oil corporations decided to act on his own, rather than pulling with his fellow CEOs in their unbelievable show of support for BP. and their silence.

what if that CEO said, “this is not enough. there is more that can be done. I have ideas and I’ll post them on my blog every morning. after the spill, i’ll convene a conference, and i’ll include the government, to imagine all the worst-case scenarios we can, and we’ll find viable solutions to them. and if we can’t develop a solution for a particular kind of problem, we won’t do the kind of drilling that would make the problem possible.”

imagine the shock to the heads of the other oil companies. imagine the government’s stunned reaction.

now, imagine the public. and how they would respond. and whose oil they would buy. imagine the trust this would build with congress and other regulators.

screw the consequences of losing happy relations with the other oil companies. these days, you either have the courage to act alone, or you get left behind.

too bad no one had the creative notion to advise their oil clients in this way.

and there you have the power of creative thinking. in advertising (and possibly PR), we have a tendency to do what’s come before. we won’t take chances on the fundamentals by thinking creatively because the outcome is uncertain.

but to hesitate is to certainly lose the opportunity.