In addition to the two posts above, which basically answer your question, I just want to add that if you want to be a passive investor, investing via ETFs is the way to go. You get instant diversification this way. Passive investing is best for those who don’t have the time, interest or skill to pick individual shares.
If on the other hand you understand accounting concepts, have the time to research and analyse companies and have the interest, then individual stock picking could be a good route to take. (And on the BP point, the answer depends on how you see oil doing over the next few years. And also, just because shares in BP have crashed doesn’t mean investors have done badly. This is because of dividends. Have a read of this article to understand further).
Just to be clear, there is no right answer. Both ways work. And even though it might read as such, passive investing is by no way second best. Passive investors by simply investing in index funds have done well over the years and even outperform individual stock pickers!