Why United Breaks Guitars is my favorite viral case study ever

I caught this gem of a clip while perusing viralvideocharts.com the other day, and i’ve been dying to write a post about it ever since (damn head cold!). Now that i can type without coughing up a lung every five seconds, i’d like to take this opportunity to explain why United Breaks Guitars is my favorite viral case study ever. In case you haven’t seen the clip, here’s the original in all it’s glory:

I think the most remarkable aspect of this story is that it spread so quickly…and that the original artist, David Carroll, had no idea what he was in for.

Carroll did what he does best, crank out some good ol’ Canadian country music, to draw attention to the blatant disregard for his instrument by United Airlines….and his message was so creative that nearly four million people came together to support him by watching, sharing, and blogging about how much UA sucks for treating a customer’s luggage (especially a classic Taylor guitar) with total neglect.

Not surprisingly, the video brought the airline titan to its knees – and as UA’s PR department struggled to save face with a wildfire ORM issue, it’s only fitting that Carroll took his overnight mainstream publicity and applied it tactically and nobly.

In his follow up statement, he told UA to take the money they clearly owed him and donate it to a charity of their choice…and to tell everyone which charity they donated to (cleverly giving UA the opportunity to improve their rep by making a smart PR move and picking a VERY noble cause).  Let’s keep our fingers crossed they make a smart investment.

Personally, I find this story unbelievably fascinating.  It was such a logical thing to do on Carroll’s part…and ended with such a remarkable impact on the web community….and the airline industry.

Just goes to show you how a little creativity and nobility can make (remember the rapping flight attendant?) or break a company’s reputation online.