“United Breaks Guitars”—An Epic Social Media Failure
On March 31, 2008, musician and lead singer Dave Carroll and his Canadian band, Sons of Maxwell, departed for a weeklong tour, flying on United Airlines (UAL) from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Omaha, Nebraska via Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. As they waited to deplane at O’Hare, Carroll and his band observed UAL baggage handlers tossing their expensive instruments around the tarmac “without regard.” Carroll’s desperate pleas to multiple UAL employees to intervene and rescue the instruments from the careless baggage handlers went unheeded. In Omaha, Carroll discovered that his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been smashed and broken—and that it was no accident. According to Carroll, he attempted to resolve his claim for the broken guitar with countless UAL customer service representatives. For a year, the airline refused to accept responsibility. Ultimately, he was told that UAL would not compensate him for the damage they’d inflicted on his instrument. Convinced that UAL had created a claim system designed to simply wear down customers, he decided to share his frustration with others via social media and to do so in creative ways. Carroll wrote and produced three music videos detailing his experience with UAL, which he posted on YouTube. His videos created a huge base of millions of fans. His first song, “United Breaks Guitars,” became a viral Internet phenomenon shortly after it was uploaded to YouTube in July 2009. He sang: United, you broke my Taylor Guitar/United, some big help you are. You broke it, you should fix it/You’re liable, just admit it/I should’ve flown with someone else/Or gone by car/ ‘Cause United breaks guitars. Within days, his video received over 2.5 million views. Then the story was picked up and covered by major news media in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within a year of its original post, the United Breaks Guitars video was viewed over 8.5 million times. Carroll released two more songs about his trials and tribulations with UAL. And his story has been retold and shared via countless blogs, Facebook pages, tweets (Twitter messages), and this textbook. Carroll’s ability to use social media to damage the reputation of a major corporation has both fascinated and terrified many in the business world. The 2010 business case “United Breaks Guitars,” by Harvard Business School professor John Deighton and research associate Leora Kornfeld, details the damaging impact a viral campaign can have on a company’s brand, reputation, and customer relationships. They discuss the complexities of dealing with viral videos, companies’ limited options for countering negative publicity, and the difficulties that unprepared companies face when responding to viral campaigns.

Facing Viral Threats
Negative viral videos posted by customers are a potential threat that cannot be ignored. Companies and heir executives can no longer afford to hide behind slick advertising campaigns and press releases to protect their public image. Nor can they insulate themselves from unhappy customers with call center employees who can’t solve problems when they arise. Motivated consumers, using the tools of social media, have the power to spread viral messages that can severely damage a company’s brand image and expose it to ridicule and significant financial consequences. New communications strategies that make use of social media involve listening to customers, responding to their concerns, engaging them in conversation, and mobilizing them toward goals that are mutually beneficial. In an interesting postscript to this story, the New York Times reported that Dave Carroll flew UAL several months after his video went viral. On that flight, UAL lost his luggage.

Capitalizing on Viral Opportunities
Several businesses capitalized on the situation. For example, Bob Taylor used the popularity of Carroll’s videos to promote his own company, Taylor Quality Guitars (taylorguitars.com), and its service center, which

provides quality repair of damaged guitars of any make. On July 10, 2009, Taylor released a video on YouTube to “lend his support to Dave Carroll and guitar players everywhere.” In the two-minute video, he directs viewers to the Taylor Guitars Web site for advice on traveling with guitars. His video had almost 500,000 views.

United Makes Peace with the Band
UAL and the band have since made peace, according to a follow-up statement by Carroll posted on YouTube. In his statement-via-video, United Breaks Guitars—A Statement from Dave Carroll, Carroll mentions that UAL offered him generous but late compensation.

For Class Discussion and Debate
1. Scenario for Brainstorming and Discussion: There’s an old saying, “Nobody is perfect.” Even when companies mean well and do everything reasonable to please the customer, something is going to go wrong some of the time. To hear Dave Carroll’s first-hand account of the story and to watch his videos, visit davecarrollmusic.com or YouTube.com. View the videos and then brainstorm answers to the following questions: a. Discuss the notion of social media as insurgent media, that is, better at attack than at defense. b. When you engage your customers in a conversation, they may tell you (and others) things you don’t want to hear. They might criticize your product, service, management, and/or employees. Would it be smarter for companies to limit their online exposure to Web sites that project a well thought-out message and do not encourage or allow responses from customers? c. Once Carroll posted his videos on YouTube, what steps could UAL have taken to minimize the damage and possibly turn things around so that it could maintain a positive brand image in the marketplace? (Hint: The major themes in social media communication are “conversation” and “relationship.” What do you do when you’ve hurt someone’s feelings?) d. Apart from this situation, what are some ways that UAL’s management should consider using social media to build relationships with its customers and prospective customers? e. Did Bob Taylor expose his company, Taylor Guitars, to any risk? Explain. 2. Debate: Social media can be a source of risk to a company’s brand or image. One example is that Dave Carroll’s complaint, propagated by social media, received a lot of attention. However, many complaints via social media do not. If the issue is not new, not interesting, or not presented in an entertaining way, it is very unlikely to go viral. a. Take the position either that companies need a damage control strategy for negative social media or that such a strategy is unnecessary and not worth the investment. Defend your position with persuasive evidence. b. In your debate, consider the probability of the risk and how feasible it is for a company to prevent situations like this from happening. c. Debate the ethical issues, including the use of damaging social media by competitors. Address this question: What’s to stop anyone with an axe to grind from using social media to ruin the reputation of wellrun, customer-oriented businesses?
Sources: Compiled from Erickson (2009), Reynolds (2009), Negroni (2009), and Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (HBSWK,2010).