LI costumer makes splash with 'bp' jumpsuit

One costume trick-or-treaters may wear this Halloween season is the creation of a Long Island company: a sloppy green jumpsuit caked with oil and the letters BP just below the shoulder.

Does the BP stand for the London-based company whose well spewed 205 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before being capped just a few weeks ago? No, says Alan Geller, executive vice president of Fun World, the Carle Place company that designed the suit.

"It stands for 'bad planning,' " said Geller.

The privately held, third-generation family company has already shipped out 10,000 of the BP suits to resellers, Geller said. "These should be hitting the stores right now," he added.

Geller said he and several other company executives were sitting around recently. "We were talking about some of the oil spills around the world and how horrible it is," Geller said. "Through a well-orchestrated method of product development, something just clicked. We called the costume 'bad planning.' "

Fun World, a designer and marketer of such seasonal products as Easter egg decorating kits, Halloween masks, Santa Claus suits and Easter grass, made the ghost face mask used in the 1996 movie "Scream," ranked 32nd on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

The BP costume will face serious competition from Lady Gaga outfits and the traditional goblins and ghouls. But popular culture plays a big role in deciding what's worn on All Hallow's Eve.

"The BP costume is influenced by the world we live in," Geller said.