So, not long ago, a Canadian couple and their 8-month old kid were heading home from their wedding in Las Vegas. As they were boarding the plane at the last minute, their baby did what babies do best, which forced mom to run the child to the restroom for a quick pre-flight change. The airline agent threatened to give their tickets away if they left the boarding line. Out of necessity, they left the line. And, in a not-so-surprising non-twist, the agent gave away their tickets, sending their luggage home without them, and leaving them stranded in Sin City. Ouch. The family’s next move? Take their beef to the internets, of course!
Needless to say, the couple was not happy, and they opted to air their grievance with a blog, Alaska Airlines Hates Families. Read the initial post, here. This post went viral and garnered massive amounts of attention, all of it negative. It even made its way to a major newspaper.
This was a PR nightmare for the airline, and about a week after the post went up, Alaska issued an apology and reimbursed the couple for the extra $1,000 they had to spend on a flight home (with a different airline, of course).
The biggest takeaway here has got to be the unprecedented amounts of control consumers are exercising over brands these days, especially when some brand-centered hate-spew go viral. It should also be noted that the family did a marvelous job of branding their grievance. Imagine if the blog had been called “Why, Alaska Airlines, Why?” or “Worst Airline Ever.” Is there any way we get these Canucks to start writing headlines for Post-Advertising?
Image via Alaska Airlines Flight Info