"United Breaks Guitars" Video. Its Message: "Don't Get Mad. Get Even."

Gary North

Dec. 15, 2009

This message arrived a few minutes ago.

A musician named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines.

United apparently damaged his treasured Taylor guitar ($3500) during a flight. Dave spent over nine months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar. During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for You Tube, exposing their lack of cooperation. The manager responded, "Good luck with that one, pal." He posted the following retaliatory video on You Tube. The video has since received over 5.5 million hits. United Airlines contacted Carroll and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally, his response was, "Good luck with that one, pal."

Taylor Guitars sent Carroll two new custom guitars in appreciation for product recognition resulting from the video that has led to a sharp increase in orders.

It is now up to 6.5 million.

In the era of YouTube, jackassery is no longer safe.