Great Game! ... But Where Are the Dead Pelican Cards? - Nikki Lorenzini

BP came out with a board game back in the 1970s. It was called the BP Offshore Oil Strike. Four players search for oil while building platforms and constructing pipelines. The object of the game is to be the first to make $120 million. There are hazards in the game as well: players may suffer a large-scale oil spill and have to cover the clean-up costs. Hazard cards say things like: "Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick cleanup costs. Pay $1 million."

Does this sound familiar?

The game has eerie similarities to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico right now. While it's tempting to think this is just an ironic twist of fate, it seems odd that an oil company would produce an oil version of Monopoly. The game came out during the oil crisis of the 1970s, so maybe it was a way of drumming up support for more US-based drilling? Or was it just another kooky marketing ploy? I know Hess has their trucks that they sell every year at Christmas, but who the heck at BP thought of putting out their own version of Monopoly?

Why would anyone at BP think this was a good idea in the first place? While I'm sure BP knew a spill like this could possibly happen, I don't think if they really believed it was likely they would have forecast it with a board game like this. On the other hand, there certainly have been other examples: according to the BBC, more than 7,000 spills (large and small) have occurred in the Niger Delta between 1970 and 2000.

Whether you're inclined to put together conspiracies or not, you have to admit it's a pretty strange thing when a game turns into reality.