YouTube Screen Shot
Posted by Krista Rogers
A perfect example of is the recent YouTube video of a budding country star scorned by an airline. David Carroll, lead singer with Canadian band Sons of Maxwell, has called out United Airlines with a music video, “United Broke My Guitar.”
On March 31, 2008 at Chicago O’Hare airport, Maxwell watched helplessly from inside the plane as his $3,500 Taylor guitar was thrown around by United Airlines baggage handlers. His attempts to be compensated by United were met with a lack of concern, denial of responsibility and resistance. After a few months and countless attempts to negotiate a fair compensation, Carroll decided to take matter into his own hands. He wrote a song about the disaster and collaborated with Curve Productions to launch the first of three music videos designed to hit United hard for both its baggage handling and failure to provide reparation.
His first video – a lively country song called “United Breaks Guitars” – was produced for $150, posted to YouTube on July 6 and went viral with incredible velocity. When I first viewed it on Wednesday, July 8, it had received 300,000 views in two days. By Friday, the number soared to over 1.5 million views. As of July 15, it has had over 3 million views. The video featured Carroll singing a catchy country tune about the disaster while faux baggage handlers threw guitar cases and baggage in the background. A series of United customer service people then popped into the video to reject his claim. The video was soon covered by CNN, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune and many more.
The coverage finally drove a favorable response from United Airlines, which couldn’t ignore people all over the world humming “United Breaks Guitars,” laughing at the airline and recalling their own horror stories online.
“This has struck a chord with us, and we’ve contacted him directly to make it right,” said Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman for United, trying a musical one-liner to possibly lighten the response. She said that she “loved the video.” The airline also called Carroll to apologize and ask if the carrier could use the video internally as a training tool and to help change its culture.
The exposure also helped generate attention for Taylor Guitars, which was sending Carroll free replacements. David Hosler, Taylor Guitar’s vice president of customer service and repair, told the media that they had done national marketing campaigns before, but the viral video exposure “is way over the top. It’s unique.” Bob Taylor, guitar company president, is building on the buzz. He posted his own video on YouTube with tips on how musicians can keep guitars safe while traveling. As of this morning the video has already received 35,713 views.
Carroll’s story shows that with creativity, compelling content and a sense of humor, an individual can use the growing power of on-line video and the immediacy of the Internet to right a wrong, with perhaps an even more important outcome for Carroll: generating interest in his music and Sons of Maxwell band.
Tags: Crisis PR, humor, news, reputation, social media
While I’m sympathetic, he really SHOULD have opened the case when he arrived in Omaha, and, at the very least, taken pictures. I’ve known since I was a child that shippers always say that one should inspect packages upon receipt even if there is no outward sign of damage. Mr. Carroll does bear some responsibility for the outcome of his situation. I don’t know about you, but when I travel with one of my pianos on a plane, I damn sure open the case at the destination airport to check it.
Also, the “we were on the road away from Omaha” is a lame excuse for having not contacted the airline immediately when the damage was discovered the day after they arrived in Omaha, at the sound check. Sounds like they did a week of touring gigs with his broken guitar in tow. Hard to be sympathetic for that. Especially in this day of cell phones, email, etc.
Sounds to me like Mr. Carroll and his gang were too lazy to bother to check things, too follow-up on things, and too focused on their career path itself and less on the material items like their guitars. (Personally, I have heard stories from roadies-who take meticulous care of player’s instruments-about how the performers then mistreat those same instruments.) Obviously, Mr. Carroll had other guitars to play which he then used. Did his audiences feel cheated because he didn’t play his $3500 Taylor. Would they even know? A consummate musician can make good music on even the worst of instruments, and somehow I doubt Mr. Carroll’s alternate guitars were cheapies from Sears.
(One also has to wonder why no one snapped a photo with their cellphone on the tarmac at Chicago, showing the offending instrument throwing/throwers.)
FWIW, this article contradicts Mr. Carroll’s statement on his website. He never actually saw *his* guitar being mishandled. By the time he looked, he surmises, his guitar had already been thrown. (He offers no proof of this.)
I’m glad Mr. Carroll is past angry, because he’d have to save some of that anger for his own mistakes and tunnel vision. Somehow, though, he seems to have turned his misfortune to his advantage. United wants to make things right to Carroll financially, has apologized to him, and wants to use the video as training to change its corporate culture. Millions of people have seen the video, and now know of Mr. Carroll and his band. My heart bleeds.Not.
If he’d checked his guitar at airport in Omaha and filed a claim, I’ll bet he would have wound up with a substantially smaller settlement than he will now probably get from United (plus he won’t have all these great publicity for an up and coming singer!. Aw, shucks.
Gee, what a clever publicity ploy. So, did any of this really happen? Can we be sure? I’ve seen no evidence that this story is anything but invented or apocryphal. Perhaps United and Taylor are in on it?
Has anyone interviewed other passengers that were supposedly on this flight, or tried to locate the person who supposedly claimed “they’re throwing guitars?” All the news stories seem to havebeen about the “viral” nature of the video, and not the actual facts of the story.
Also, there are always sides to a story. Were all the United agents and employees truly surly or dismissive? Was Mr. Carroll always polite and respectful to them?
Was this truly a “viral” video as claimed, where “the people” forced an outcome or is it a shameless sham? Food for thought.
Also, for the record, I once flew United on a vacation to Hawaii. On the return trip, they misrouted a grass mat we had purchased for a few bucks as a souvenir. United located the misrouted mat, sent it back to our local airport, and had it delivered to our house by taxi, along with a letter of profuse apology. Admittedly, this was some years ago. Nevertheless, it represents most of my own personal experience with United Airlines, which have generally been positive. The missing grass mat was the only luggage problem I have ever had flying United.
It is so true that the tune struck a chord.
I just flew on a different airline and noticed while waiting for my baggage, that one of the other flights whose baggage was coming through on the same baggage roundabout was a co-chair with united and I immediately started singing “united breaks guitars”.
After an initial panic for the safety of my own luggage, I begun wondering about the end result for David. Good to hear that he has a new guitar, but sad to hear that it was not United that made the reparations.
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