Movie Director Kevin Smith has bought 10 tickets on Southwest over the course of the past week to go to such events as Macworld. This week he said “I’m never going on Southwest again.”
Smith had reportedly purchased three seats for he and his wife for the flight to Burbank, but Jennifer was unable to make the trip. According to the podcast, Kevin was desirous to utilize two of his tickets, and save one, but the clerk inadvertently printed up all three according to Kevin, and long story short, he was allowed to board an earlier flight as a standby passenger.
Even though he had paid for three seats, only one seat was available on that flight. Kevin was fine with that, apparently the airline wasn’t.
This is where the problems began.
According to the story, (and I am paraphrasing), after Kevin was let on the plane, stowing his bags, buckling his seat belt and awaiting takeoff, he was promptly and embarrassingly asked to leave, in front of an airplane almost full of people. Safety and security concerns were stated as the reason for his removal, although the airline refused to elaborate at the time.
Upon leaving the plane, he questioned the Southwest personnel and was not given sufficient answers in his opinion and was subsequently offered a $100 voucher for his embarrassment. Kevin politely as possible given the position he was in, refused the voucher, boarded the next flight, all the while using his Twitter account to its fullest.
The well known movie director has 1.6 million Twitter followers.
Kevin typed out several messages on his Twitter, his blog and his podcast stating his position in no uncertain terms.
He has developed his personal social media presence into a powerful outlet for promoting his positions on issues. He has the Twitter following to possibly effect change on certain levels, due mostly to a combination of the amount of time he invests and the level of following he possesses.
Bottom line: his social media build works.
If you were wondering, some of his messages were:
Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?
Dear @SouthwestAir, I flew out in one seat, but right after issuing me a standby ticket, Oakland Southwest attendant Suzanne (wouldn’t give last name) told me Captain Leysath deemed me a “safety risk”.
Again: I’m way fat… But I’m not THERE just yet.
But if I am, why wait til my bag is up, and I’m seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who’d already I.d.ed me as “Silent Bob.” So, @SouthwestAir, go **** yourself. I broke no regulation, offered no “safety risk” (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?). I was wrongly ejected from the flight (even Suzanne eventually agreed). And **** your apologetic $100 voucher, @SouthwestAir. Thank God I don’t embarrass easily (bless you, JERSEY GIRL training). But I don’t sulk off either: so everyday, some new ***-you Tweets for @SouthwestAir.
Southwest followed suit by blogging right away with the title “not-so-silent-bob“.
This was perhaps an ill-advised move on Southwest’s part, as I don’t think the situation called for levity at that point.
Southwest’s Twitter rebuttals were not so effective either. While Southwest had a social media build in place, their information outlet was not working so well.
Their customer service was not there, and they didn’t do effective damage control; they quite possibly alienated 1.6 million potential customers.
While Kevin Smith was glad to have a Twitter account, other celebrities have not been so happy.
John Mayer has also had it with certain public issues but unlike Kevin Smith, he does not seem to be as much of a fan of Twitter.
Mr. Mayer has had a few days of Twitter “silence” and in all likelihood, that will be the situation going forward; as with any social media, it can be a double edged sword.
With a proper social media build, and professional reputation management, you have it within your power to control what is said about you and your company. You can minimize and control reputation issues. In this instance, it appears that Kevin Smith had his ORM properly utilized and Southwest to some degree, did not.
If you have concerns with regard to your online reputation, Metamend has proven solutions and experienced professionals to address your concerns and help you prepare for situations like this.
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