R74, 000 - and some - says we are really sorry -- once

READERS of South African daily newspapers this morning would have been so pleased to see a full-page, full colour advertisement placed by BP, saying how "really sorry" the company was that some BP service stations had ran out of fuel during the recent strike. Hang on. What is BP apologising for here (at great cost to its shareholders)? Surely the trade union that launched the strike should be doing the apologising, not the company, which, after all, was the victim. If BP thinks this advertisement is going to make motorists feel warm and cuddly, they must be living in a different world from Spigot. For one thing, if it costs more than R74, 000 to place just one of these ads, heaven knows what the total expenditure for the campaign must be. For another, whoever wrote the copy needs lessons in basic English. Commas are missing where they should be and commas are inserted where they are not needed. Saying," Welcome back!" when the whole tenure of the ad is that things are not yet back to normal seems odd, too. As for:" We know you may not recently have been able to find BP Ultimate easily, but rest assured, you will feel the full benefits of using BP Ultimate again very soon". Aaaaaaaah!