Skip to main content

Southwest Airlines Community

Eat Your (Peanut Butter) Livery

blusk
Aviator C
Here's a quick post for the weekend. Be sure and read our newest posts below. On May 30, Southwest kicked off our 35th Anniversary celebration in a big way with a new special aircraft. In conjunction with America's Second Harvest, we unveiled the Spread the LUV aircraft spreadthelove0851.jpgto publicize our drive to gather jars of peanut butter for food banks all across our system. Peanut butter is a lot tastier than liver, so this is a livery that I find "very edible." Our President, Colleen Barrett explained to the crowd of Employees and the media why peanut butter is so important: "Peanut butter, with its high protein content, has long been one of the staples most needed by food banks. It only makes sense that the airline that made the peanut famous would be the one that Spreads the LUV with peanut butter." We are encouraging our Customers and Employees to visit southwest.com (the donation link is below the picture of our Original Employees) to make donations that will purchase 35,000 jars of peanut butter between now and the end of June. The jars will be distributed to food banks across our system, and Southwest will match the donations up to $35,000. At the ceremony, volunteers from Southwest and the North Texas Food Bank unloaded cases of peanut butter from the aircraft and loaded them into the Food Bank's truck, spreadthelove1051.jpgand I was fortunate to be one of those volunteers. One of the great things about working for Southwest is the ability to participate in these events that give back to the community, and we hope that all of you will join in this important effort.
9 Comments
Chuck1
Explorer C
Funny that this blog appeared. I am one of those people that everyone else calls when they can't think of the name of a song or remember a computer entry...last week, a Co-Worker called me at my gate and asked me how peanuts became the "snack" for airlines. She said that her Grandmother had posed the question to her- said that airlines had been serving peanuts as long as she could remember- even in the 50's and 60's. I was stumped. I didn't have an answer. So- does anyone know the origin of peanuts being served on airplanes? Could it have been "fashionable in the 50's? Could it have been requested by Customers? Could it have been cheap? And then of course the follow up question- did as many children have peanut allergies back then as they do today? Inquiring minds want to know...
blusk
Aviator C
Hey Chuck, As a "survivor" of the Fifties, and as someone who flew nonrev during that time, I know that peanuts and cashews seemed to be the only nuts you would ever see in a store. Even today, I still can't go into a Sear's store with expecting to smell popcorn and peanuts. To be honest, I don't remember peanuts on flights back then, but I do remember them being on most flights in the Sixties and Seventies. Of course, my memory could be flawed too--it's been known to happen. Of course peanuts and baseball have been intertwined for over a century, and with apologies to our nut suppliers, nothing beats a bag of ballpark peanuts. Brian
David_Ross2
Explorer B
I may be totally wrong on this but I think it's due to the price of peanuts. Unless it's changed, peanuts are highly subsidized, thus lowering the cost to consumers. (Never mind the fact the consumer is paying twice - once for the subsidy through taxes and once for the actual purchase).
Matthew_Skok1
Explorer C
What's the registration number on that aircraft?
blusk
Aviator C
I beleive it is N238WN, Matthew. Brian
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
To Chuck III -- I believe the practice started as a result of the gradual thickening of the American waistline. As the popularity of fast food and high cholesterol dosages have all increased dramatically, folks in this country keep getting bigger and bigger. Peanuts were the logical and appropriate response, as they are a well-known favorite among a certain breed of animal. Just two weeks ago, I sat next to an elephant in the center seat... Kim (with tongue firmly in cheek) 🙂
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Hey Brian, I've got a question for you and all of the other nuts down at SWA. I went online and bought some peanuts for the 35th anniversary of my favorite airline. There were multiple choices for the various quantities that you wanted to buy through the website. BUT, there was a choice that was glaring in its omission, and since SWA is famous for giving its customers a choice, I was rather surprised by this oversight. Why wasn't there an option to select "smooth" or "chunky"?? Your favorite Garland nut, Kim 🙂
blusk
Aviator C
Hi Kim, My choice is chunky and the kind you have to stir the oil into the butter, so I would vote for that. The real reason we didn't have the choice is that the Food Banks are desperate for any kind of peanut butter this time of year With kids out of school, they aren't able to take advantage of school meals, and summer is the time of year when more people go hungry than any other time. By the way, the response from our Customers and Employees has been fantastic, and remember, the drive continues through the end of the month! Brian
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Brian, I'm right there with ya, buddy! The chunkier, the better! To my fellow SWA fans, All joking aside, what a great way to show your LUV for Southwest and to support a great cause at the same time. Please take a moment to help those who are less fortunate (besides the folks who don't fly on SWA) and demonstrate to them that SWA not only has the greatest employees in the world, they've got some pretty terrific passengers, too! http://www.secondharvest.org/who_helps_us/southwest.html Thanks for your support! Kim