I believe that BP is pretty much, well, toast. Does that mean that they are out of business tomorrow? No it does not. They may in fact be operating as an entity called BP for some time to come, and for legal reasons, others that are interested in assets of the company probably would want to purchase the assets and leave the corporate shell alone. That said, they have lost the most precious asset a corporation could ever attain — the trust, respect and confidence of customers, investors and the body politic. Furter, they have lost the respect and trust of their brand. And such a shame, as even I had begun to buy into their amazing television commercial campaign of late 2009. Too bad the company did not put as much attention into protecting its brand as it did promoting it.
And so, like the shadow following you as you walk down the street, BP may be with us for a while, managing through endless private and government led lawsuits and such, but as a growing global brand the company is effectively a dead man walking.