Social media breaks backs

YouTube scares me. And it should scare you, too. Because once negative information about your company makes the Internet, trying to contain the damage is akin to attempting to stamp out a California wildfire with a wool blanket.

It can’t be done.

One in a long line of YouTube corporate victims is United Airlines, which became the unwilling lyrical topic of a disgruntled singer/band member after his valuable guitar was smashed by careless airline luggage handlers in the spring of 2008.

After months of unrequited phone calls and letters to United, asking for reimbursement for his $3,500 Taylor guitar damaged on the tarmac during a Chicago connection enroute to my home state of Nebraska, Dave Carroll of the band Sons of Maxwell took to the i-waves and aired his frustration in verse.

“United Breaks Guitars” is a catchy song with an even catchier music video that debuted in early July. The ditty is a scathing, yet amusing, recap of Carroll’s attempts to receive compensation for the pricey instrument. Within a day of its release, “Breaks Guitars” had been viewed by thousands. To date, more than 5 million people have heard the song and seen the video.

On Monday, Carroll came out with part two -- “United Breaks Guitars Song 2” -- fulfilling an earlier promise that he would record three songs railing against the airline’s antipathy.

“Song 2” has received nearly 80,000 views so far. But what is more significant is that Carroll didn’t need to record it.

Shortly after the release of the first song, United contacted Carroll, making nice and offering to pay for the guitar. Carroll’s response, though amicable, was a publicly aired “No Way, Jose.” In a viral version of a press conference, Carroll made it clear that, while he would happily have that $3,500 reimbursal sent to a charity, nothing would stop him from recording three songs.

So, for United, it’s two down and one to go. How much havoc will ultimately be wreaked for the airline, which already has endured much-publicized financial woes? Only time will tell, but in the meantime Carroll’s tell-all has no immediate end in sight.

What’s the lesson? Watch your back, and you might want to have a film production crew in your pocket. You never know when a retaliatory music video might be in order.

Somehow missed “United Breaks Guitars”? Follow these links to the background story and the two performances. Leave yourself plenty of viewing time; they’re not short.

http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg&feature=channel_page

-- Katherine Field

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo, to Sears or Wal-Mart shall my freshman go?

Comforter set, check. Towels and sheets, check. Laptop, check. Microwave, check.

But to get my daughter ready to enter the University of Nebraska in three weeks to begin her first year of college, I still need to buy a futon, an alarm clock (with a LOUD alarm), a desk lamp, a television stand and some throw pillows.

Our plan is to do some shopping this weekend. Lo and behold, in my e-mail inbox early this morning was a promotion from Wal-Mart Wire -- the subject line read, “Get Your Rooms Ready for Fall: Desks, Futons, TV Stands and More.”

Bingo. I perused the items, with discounted prices no less, and rapidly marked the items I needed, then confirmed they are in stock at the closest Wal-Mart store (3.52 miles from my east Lincoln home). I printed the pages, showed them to Holley, and we made a date to do our off-to-college shopping on Saturday.

Sears, on the other hand, had a different strategy for boosting back-to-school sales. The retailer recently introduced a Facebook page with three applications designed to help college students plan for their move into dorms. It comes with such applications as a dorm room designer tool.

There’s just one problem. Sears is reaching out to the students; Wal-Mart contacted me, the parent. The one with the wallet that actually has money in it.

My daughter loves Facebook, but Sears’ new page isn’t going to interest her. Why? She doesn’t need it. The dorm designer application is provided online at the University of Nebraska Web site. So is the roommate matchup, a tool that allows you to get to know your college roommate.

But Sears’ bigger mistake, in my opinion, was focusing its efforts on the students. Wal-Mart moved up the money chain and marketed to the parents. If a bet were placed on which retailer garners the biggest share of the back-to-school pie, in the Field house, the money is on Wal-Mart.

-- Katherine Field