Last year, a musician named Dave Carroll took a United Airlines Flight from Halifax to Nebraska. Before he took off, he noticed some guitars behind thrown around on the tarmac. The guitars were Dave’s and the guitar was broken. After months of wrangling with United he was to receive no compensation for his broken guitar. So, he wrote a song, made a video and posted it on YouTube. 4.8m views later and the name of United Airlines is becoming synonymous with ‘breaks guitars.’ Watch the video, then read on.
The video has become an embarrasment for United Airlines and has caused global sniggering at the power of the video. The Times here in the UK suggested the video caused a share price drop worth around $180m which is a little far fetched but the video did prompt a belated reaction from United. They kindly offered him $3,000 which he turned down, suggesting instead they donate to charity. (They donated it to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz)
But that’s not the end of the story, you can now buy ‘United Breaks Guitars’ T-shirts and mugs at zazzle.com whilst Dave and his band are currently penning a ‘follow up’ – a song he feels adds a little more praise for United. We will just have to wait and see!
If you are interested in tracking the hype for this song, try reading this article from Meme Menagerie.
