The recent oil spill in the Gulf is truly a disaster. It has been estimated that over 140 million gallons of oil have been released into the Gulf as a result of this catastrophe. The amount of damage is incalculable, and the impact on associated ecosystems will last many years into the future.

This disaster is particularly salient for us at Grooveshark.  Our office lies less than an hour’s drive from the Gulf Coast of Florida.  In fact, many of us are Florida natives and have been visiting the Gulf since before we can remember. 

We want to help, and we encourage you to do the same.  We have created a special theme and a sidebar ad to encourage our users to visit the Save Our Gulf homepage and donate to the protection and restoration efforts. 

Please take some time to check out what you can do.  Every little bit helps.

The text on top is going to change a little bit, but even with that minor error, it is a pretty awesome theme! Share it with your friends:  http://bit.ly/aLGox7

Save Our Gulf is a Waterkeeper Alliance initiative aimed at minimizing the impact of the Gulf oil disaster.  You can find more information here:

http://www.saveourgulf.org/
http://www.waterkeeper.org/

As I sit here writing this, up to 100 million gallons of oil has spewed into the gulf and as it continues to do so, it is destroying our fragile ecosystem and people's livelihoods. We cannot just sit, watch the news and continue to say, "This is horrible!" and, "How could this happen?" without some action to back it up. This problem is our problem now and we need to stand up and help where ever and however we can.

Who Is Helping the Gulf Coast Region?

There are so many groups doing amazing work along the Gulf coastlines. After days of due diligence and research, our co-producer Sloane Berrent came back to the group with multiple nonprofits to partner with and options but we all narrowed in on the Gulf Restoration Network's new initiative, Gulf Future, because we all thought it reflected our mission. Support the coastal and fishing communities, restore the marine and costal environments and, maybe most important, make people aware and responsible for what has happened in the Gulf so history does not repeat itself in the future.

How are we raising money?

Naturally owning The Roxy in Los Angeles, I thought we should throw a benefit concert, but then wondering how to make it really have an impact, it came to me, what if we reached out to our neighbor businesses to see if we could all work together and really take something as simple as a benefit concert and turn it into a wave of action. I then reached out to Casey Phillips, who I knew as a true New Orleans man and someone who had a real "on the ground" pulse of what was happening. Not only was he a native of the area but also the talent buyer for multiple clubs including our own Sunset Strip neighbor, The Viper Room. Casey echoed my same thoughts and went into action immediately bringing in Sloane Berrent and The Roxy's Megan Jacobs along with a team of people who knew something had to be done now. Three weeks and a couple of thousands emails later, we now have over 50 independent music venues and over 100 bands fighting for the cause.

All the venues will send their gate revenues from these shows directly to Gulf Restoration Network within 72 hours of our shows. Also, our donation widget send funds directly to the Gulf Restoration Network's account so we don't ever touch the donations and they all go directly to the nonprofit partner. We're making sure it gets into the hands of community groups like Bayou Grace and St. Bernard Community Center within weeks and we'll be sharing that with those who made donations both online and through attending events through social networks and follow up blog posts with our partners.

We Have Venues, Now We Need Talent...

The Roxy, The Viper Room, The Comedy Store and Tipitinas are among dozens of the nations best clubs and music venues that are coming together in solidarity to fundraise for gulf oil spill communities on July, 1st. Plus individuals have planned smaller events to support our efforts across 11 countries, it's pretty incredible!

This is our call to action as it is for all the bands that our participating in this national one day event and we've gotten such incredible talent including:

Rebelution / Galactic / Kaki King / Mickey Avalon / Ben Lee / Guitar Shorty / Iglu & Hartly / Ivan Neville / Cisco & Shwayze / Walter Wolfman Washington / Sarah Borges / Coco Robicheaux / Beardo / Wicker / Lost Bayou Ramblers / Rotary Downs / Daryl Hannah / Dave Faustino/ Ed Begley Jr

Although I'm unsatisfied with the clean up and the support that the fisherman have received so far, I am inspired to know that all over the world people are signing up and either giving their time and effort or donating money to make a difference in the spill zone. That gives me great hope that when we look to our neighbors, no matter how close or far away they may be, we will always come together to help the ones in need, that is what our great country is best at. What we have put together is only the beginning of a long line of projects that others will continue to do until every drop of oil is cleaned up, every bird and fish healthy and every person who has been directly affected by this has been compensated. We can only accept yelling at the TV after we have done something to make difference so please get involved anyway you can. The time is now!

As part of a series of coast to coast benefit shows, the reggae sounds of Santa Barbara’s own Rebelution will be resonating across the walls of The Roxy this Thursday, July 1st.  100% of the proceeds from this (and all the day’s benefit shows) go toward victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Check out what you can expect from Rebelution and learn more about the Coast to Coast Concerts by clicking more.

Rebelution has been spreading their positive, socially conscious lyrics all around the U.S. lately, most notably at this years Bonaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.

You can check out the guys doing Outta Control live at Bonaroo here.

Fortunately for the victims of the Gulf Coast spill (but unfortunately for you) tickets to their Roxy benefit show are sold out. But feel free to check back here in case any tickets free up. Or you know, just hang out around the Roxy on Thursday night and see if you can get friendly with the bouncer.

But this Rebelution show isn’t the only local Gulf Coast benefit show taking place that day.  The Mint, The Comedy Store, and the Viper Room (who will be hosting Mickey Avalon) will all be throwing benefit events that night.  Check out all the shows that are part of the Coast to Coast Concerts and learn how you can donate to the cause on the Gulf Coast Benefit website here.

In addition to the environmental devastation that BP’s oil disaster has caused, the spill has also destroyed the livelihoods of countless people who live on the southeastern coast of the United States who depend on jobs based along the Gulf of Mexico. Florida’s Capitol News Service reports today that food stamp applications have “soared” along the Florida coast following the spill:

Applications for food stamps in Panhandle counties have soared since oil began gushing from the broken BP pipe leak. Since May 1st application are up 15 percent. The Department of Children and Families is keeping separate data to track people who qualify for food stamps because the oil has destroyed their careers. Don Winstead is the Welfare Advisor for DCF. He says along with the growing need for food assistance is a growing need for councilors to help families going through hard times.

“Being not only in the food stamp program and other benefit programs but also seen through our mental health program also. One of the things we typically do after disaster is increase our counseling capacity because people are going to be affected in a variety of ways,” said Winstead.

The number of people seeking assistance in coastal Louisiana has reportedly gone up as well. Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans tells McClatchy newspapers that it has seen “at least a 15 percent jump in new families requesting services.” Additional funding for food stamps benefits was originally in the Senate’s unemployment “extenders” legislation, but it was removed in the hopes of getting conservative votes — a tactic that didn’t work as the bill once again failed to advance today.

A sad play on the infamous execution photo from Vietnam

Jebus. RIDE A BIKE PEOPLE!!!

Dearest Media,

My name is Leroy Stick and I am the man behind @BPGlobalPR.  First, let me begin by explaining my name.

When I was growing up, there was a dog that lived on my block named Leroy.  Leroy was a big dog with a disdain for leashes and a thirst for blood.  He made a habit of running around our block attacking anything he saw, biting my dad and my dogs basically whenever he had the chance.  He chased me a few times, but I always escaped because I was/am an amazing tree climber.

Anyhoos, after Leroy’s second or third attack on my dogs, it became clear that the police and Leroy’s owner weren’t going to do anything to stop him, so my dad took matters into his own hands and came up with a brilliant invention: the Leroy stick.

The Leroy stick was, you guessed it, a stick.  My dad carried an axe handle and I carried a plunger handle.  My dad told me two things about carrying the Leroy stick.  First, if Leroy came near me or the dogs, I should hit him.  Second, if I hit Leroy with my stick, I would not get in trouble.  Was it legal?  Probably not.  Was it right?  It sure felt like it.  We set the example and soon a lot of our neighbors started carrying Leroy sticks as well.  Soon enough, Leroy and his owner saw everyone carrying sticks and Leroy didn’t run free anymore.

If you think the point of this story is to beat dogs with sticks, then I’m guessing you probably still think I work for BP as well.

The point of this story is that if someone is terrorizing your neighborhood, sometimes it’s alright to grab a stick and take a swing. Social media, and in this particular case Twitter, has given average people like me the ability to use and invent all sorts of brand new sticks.

I started @BPGlobalPR, because the oil spill had been going on for almost a month and all BP had to offer were bullshit PR statements.  No solutions, no urgency, no sincerity, no nothing.  That’s why I decided to relate to the public for them.  I started off just making jokes at their expense with a few friends, but now it has turned into something of a movement.  As I write this, we have 100,000 followers and counting.  People are sharing billboards, music, graphic art, videos and most importantly information.

Why has this caught on?  I think it’s because people can smell the bullshit and sometimes laughing at it feels better than getting angry or depressed over it.  At the very least, it’s a welcome break from that routine.  The reason @BPGlobalPR continues to grow is because BP continues to spew their bullshit.

I’ve read a bunch of articles and blogs about this whole situation by publicists and marketing folk wondering what BP should do to save their brand from @BPGlobalPR.  First of all, who cares?  Second of all, what kind of business are you in?  I’m trashing a company that is literally trashing the ocean, and these idiots are trying to figure out how to protect that company?  One pickledick actually suggested that BP approach me and try to incorporate me into their actual PR outreach.  That has got to be the dumbest, most head-up-the-ass solution anyone could possibly offer.

Do you want to know what BP should do about me?  Do you want to know what their PR strategy should be?  They should fire everyone in their joke of a PR department, starting with all-star Anne Womack-Kolto and focus on actually fixing the problems at hand.  Honestly, Cheney’s publicist?  That’s too easy.

BP seems to only care about maintaining their image so they can keep making money, two things we have blatantly avoided.  I don’t have an image and I’m not making any money AT ALL for myself.  Every penny we make from the t-shirts goes to the Gulf Restoration Network.  Just a few hours ago, we made our first official $10,000 donation to healthygulf.org from the money we’ve made selling free “bp cares” t-shirts in one week.

So what is the point of all this?  The point is, FORGET YOUR BRAND.  You don’t own it because it is literally nothing.  You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately, that’s up to the public, now isn’t it?

You know the best way to get the public to respect your brand?  Have a respectable brand.  Offer a great, innovative product and make responsible, ethical business decisions.  Lead the pack!  Evolve!  Don’t send hundreds of temp workers to the gulf to put on a show for the President.  Hire those workers to actually work!  Don’t dump toxic dispersant into the ocean just so the surface looks better.  Collect the oil and get it out of the water!  Don’t tell your employees that they can’t wear respirators while they work because it makes for a bad picture.  Take a picture of those employees working safely to fix the problem.  Lastly, don’t keep the press and the people trying to help you away from the disaster, open it up so people can see it and help fix it.  This isn’t just your disaster, this is a human tragedy.  Allow us to mourn so that we can stop being angry.

In the meantime, if you are angry, speak up.  Don’t let people forget what has happened here.  Don’t let the prolonged nature of this tragedy numb you to its severity.  Re-branding doesn’t work if we don’t let it, so let’s hold BP’s feet to the fire.  Let’s make them own up to and fix their mistakes NOW and most importantly, let’s make sure we don’t let them do this again.

Right now, PR is all about brand protection.  All I’m suggesting is that we use that energy to work on human progression.  Until then, I guess we’ve still got jokes.

Love,

Leroy Stick (aka a guy in his boxer shorts)

This is so sad and so terrible. It's times like these I'm very glad I don't own a car.