The devastation of the Texas City refinery and the subsequent litigation that forced BP to pay at least $2 billion to compensate victims and cover federal fines overshadowed the story of the 2006 public relations campaign by the company.

One of the lawyers in a suit against the company over that campaign says that the 2006 and 2010 PR efforts provide an unprecedented window into the multimillion dollar efforts that BP uses to gloss over the human, environmental and economic damages that were caused by its two massive disasters. BP had a corporate-wide culture that lacked respect for law and safety, but TV ads portray the company as being focused on helping local communities. However, one of the employees featured in these ads has a long history as a public relations professional, not a community outreach worker.