02-15-2010
12:15 PM
1 Love
The PR team for SWA should be shot; this is probably one of the best illustrations I've ever seen of how NOT to handle crisis PR, and as a long-time PR professional, I've seen plenty of mismanaged crisis PR situations.
Not only do I not believe that SWA reached out to Kevin Smith as it proclaimed on this blog, it allowed his Twitter attack to continue on, unchecked. Did SWA call his agent? His wife? His cell phone, since he provided a number? No. Did it meaningfully try to engage with him via Twitter? Nope. It tossed a few throwaway tweets in his direction, then shut down for the night. Then to add insult to injury, someone inside posted this inane "apology" that implies that because SWA supposedly has had this policy for "customers of size" (please...what a weak euphemism) in place for some 25 years, that it makes it okay to humiliate its customers.
The PR team did nothing right in this case, and everything wrong. I find this incredibly surprising because normally, SWA is one of the most media-savvy companies I've come across. SWA "gets" social media. It "gets" real-time comms and customer service. Yet, for all of this outstanding experience and knowledge, SWA really screwed the pooch on this one. It allowed an aggrieved customer with a concrete following to build up anti-SWA momentum, and then tried to shrug it off. FAIL, FAIL, FAIL.
Now, my PR rantings aside...I agree that people need to be able to fit into a single seat adequately or they should purchase two. I feel for the "people of size" that must fly in a single seat, as well as their seatmates. The penny-pinching of the airlines has resulted in flesh-pinching, midget-sized seats, making it nearly impossible for anyone larger than oh, say...a stick, to fly comfortably. But that's the world we live in and I think everyone tries to make the best of it. What I really find offensive is the absolute uncaring, lack of dignity that SWA injected into this situation. I realize that they're trying to balance the needs of everyone but for heaven's sake, USE SOME COMMON SENSE. Don't publicly humiliate your fellow human beings, and for the love of Christ, don't publicly humiliate a fellow human being if he's got a bully pulpit to preach from. Showing a little kindness and allowing a "person of size" to maintain his or her dignity in a difficult situation - how hard is that? I mean, really - would it kill SWA's employees, management, and corporate leadership to show a little of that "LUV" that they're always bragging about?
In any case, Southwest, you've lost my business. Your fares have been lackluster as of late anyway, and with the new 2Fat2Fly hate, I'll go elsewhere. I refuse to fly Prejudice Skies Airlines. Shame on you for a lack of human decency, and shame on your PR team for a lack of vision and understanding of crisis PR. This is a FAIL-FAIL situation for you, and a win for Kevin Smith and all fliers who are "people of size".
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