Maybe Shell Doesn’t Think Social Media Matters All That Much

The Greenpeace-supported fake Shell website has gained a lot of social media traction this past week. By using Shell’s logo, among other things, the site comes off as pretty slick and its official-lookingness has a lot of people fooled. The site gives people a chance to create their own “Let’s Go” ads like this one:

As far as I can tell, Shell’s response has been quite limited, leaving this press release as one of its only real public statements on the Greenpeace effort. And as of today, CNN reports, no legal action against Greenpeace has been taken.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Shell would stomp on this effort like an elephant on an ant. So what’s going on here? Is Shell simply too large, too connected, and too determined to move forward with their business and their drilling plans that they simply don’t care? Are they unafraid of a consumer backlash?

We may be reaching a tipping point where large companies simply ignore social media efforts, because they aren’t backed by real economic power. Look at BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They came out of that fairly unscathed.

So what do you think? Should Shell do more? Are companies learning to panic less? Or will the Greenpeace protest, given enough time and continual effort, make a difference?