BP is dumped by the RSC and the climate crisis generation has claimed a victory over greenwashing

When an oil giant is your corporate sponsor it is a zero sum game. While their reputation is polished, yours is tarnished

“To BP, or not to BP? That is the question
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous corporate fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of financial troubles.”

To be fair, the Royal Shakespeare Company was no dithering Hamlet when the question was posed through the threat of a student boycott. “Not to BP” was its answer, ending a relationship of several years standing.

The point of corporate sponsorship is that it facilitates the RSC’s work, which includes giving young people the chance to experience the bard as he was meant to be experienced, on a stage rather than drily read out in the classroom as was Macbeth at my comp (something that put me off for years).

It’s self defeating if you take money from a company they regard as their kryptonite because of the way its products are fuelling the climate crisis.

“Disappointed and dismayed,” is how BP described the move. Cuddly sponsorship turns into a heap of bad publicity. I’ll bet that’s why they are dismayed.

There are two types of these things. The first is pretty simple. It’s advertising, no more no less. Splashing your corporate name across a football club’s jerseys or backing a popular TV show are examples of this. It gets your brand seen by people you hope will then buy your product or subscribe to your service. Everyone more or less knows the rules of the game. All well and good.

The second is more insidious. It’s where companies support beneficial activities with the aim not just of selling stuff but also of showing off what good and caring corporate citizens they are.

These can include cultural events, such as those put on by the RSC. Less commercially valuable sporting activities also fit into this category, say, backing a disadvantaged athlete who’ll appear in a video for you and mention you during interviews. Putting money into para-sports is another good example.

BP is doing an awful lot of the second type right now. Can you guess why?

You’ll see its name prominently displayed on the British Museum’s exhibition on the myth and reality of Troy. Except it’s actually called “The BP Exhibition”.

Twitter’s algorithm seems to have picked up that I’m disabled, like sport, write about disability. So it has been bombarding me with ads touting BP’s support for the Paralympics and of para-athletes. “Igniting the energy with Tatyana McFadden,” says one. Oh god. Spare me. Just spare me.

For the uninitiated, McFadden is an American wheelchair racer of singular talent and with so many gold medals she probably has to rent space out at Fort Knox just to keep them safe.

But “inspirational” videos such as the one she’s shot for BP are getting really, really old.

More to the point, who is it that you think will suffer the most from the planet turning into a cooker? Clue: it won’t be the wealthy white guys who run oil companies.

What must really have dismayed BP is that the kids protesting its involvement with the RSC saw its attempts at corporate greenwashing for what they are and refused to endorse them.

The RSC should be commended for its willingness to listen to their protest. It’s rare, and welcome, for this to happen.

Organisations like the RSC need money. Sponsorships help defray the cost of productions, which are expensive and risky. They also serve to keep ticket prices at a more or less manageable level so they are affordable by people other than the likes of Boris Johnson and his elite old Etonian pals. BP’s helped fund discounted prices for those aged 16-25. It is to be hoped that someone else will now step in.

Regardless, other organisations should consider following the RSC’s lead. Not to put too fine a point on it, they run a risk by accepting money from the wrong sort of company. When the likes of BP are involved, it is a zero sum game. If the corporate sponsor’s reputation is being polished, then theirs is being tarnished.

I understand the commercial realities they face, and the fact that corporate sponsorships aren’t easy to find.

But there are businesses out there with deep pockets, and less noxious products.