FNCU Blog

Ali Hedges, NewsEdge

It has been more than two months since BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, bleeding oil into the Gulf of Mexico and causing arguably the most catastrophic environmental disaster to date.  The oil spill has destroyed marine life as well as fishing and tourism industries, derailed the overall livelihood of those living along the Gulf Coast.  Now that anywhere between 96 and 160 million gallons of oil have spilled into our waters, and tar balls have made their way to our beaches, BP's 600-page “Oil Spill Response Plan” looks like a cruel joke.  The American people are knee-deep in tragedy, and in dire need of a good laugh.

Thankfully, the creative minds behind The Upright Citizens Brigade are here to the rescue. The comedy group from New York cleverly explored what would happen at the offices of British Petroleum in the case of...a coffee spill.

"Don't worry about it.  It's a small spill and a very large table," one executive assured.

In an attempt to save sushi, a map of Louisiana and laptops, the team desperately tried to clean up the spill with a series of misguided plans that only make matters worse.  Before they know it, they wasted valuable time, and the spill is covered in trash and hair. Not too far from the truth, right?  The only piece missing is the appearance of a certain powerful man coming in to kick butt. 

Poking fun at a tragic situation can often be a tricky maneuver because we risk the chance that some may raise an eyebrow. When is “too soon” too soon?

This spoof, however, can be enjoyed by the masses because the group mocks BP's shortcomings and not the tragedy itself. .  Unfortunately, in real life, we lack a no-brainer solution of paper towels to handle this disastrous mess.  As time passes, and more and more sad animals wash up on shore drenched in oil, our capacity to find any humor in this situation may dwindle. As long as BP CEO Tony Hayward isn't sitting on YouTube and getting a chuckle out of this video, I'll continue to enjoy watching it.