A week ago Monday, few people knew who Dave Carroll was, but in the last week and a half, his YouTube video has become the latest viral phenomenon – racking up nearly 3 million YouTube views in the last 10 days. His instant fame has also come at the expense United Airlines, the target of his YouTube video.
Nearly a year ago, Carroll saw his $3500 guitar being tossed off of his United flight by baggage personell at Ohare Airport. When he finally got it, it had been destroyed. Despite his best efforts to get United to compensate him over a nine month period, the company ultimately said “No.” Therefore, he threatened to write 3 music videos telling others about his experience with United Airlines. The first of his 3 videos hit YouTube last Monday, July 6. Here’s the video:
In one day, it had nearly 25,000 views and almost 500 comments. By Friday, the video had attracted over a million hits and even a YouTube video response from Taylor Guitars (the brand of guitar which Carroll mentioned was broken). Taylor’s quick response and message to viewers was great. The only thing Taylor could have done better would have been to offer to replace his guitar (Carroll has already spent $1200 to fix his guitar). Here’s Taylor’s response video:
Not only did over a million people see it, but nearly 10,000 had commented on the video, discussing everything from poor service they had received to a simple, “great song.” There were many comments also about the woman who ultimately told Carroll that United would not compensate him. On Friday, Carroll posted his own response, letting fans know that the woman he worked with at United had been polite and she may be being unfairly attacked in the messages. He also let fans know that United had contacted him and finally offered to compensate him for his loss. He said that he declined their offer, but hopes they will donate it to a charity of their choice. He said still intends to create 2 more music videos about the situation. Here’s Carroll’s reponse video:
How has United responded? According to media that have contacted United, they mentioned their phone conversation with him, but said that it is between him and them, so they plan to deal with it privately with him. Other than being contacted directly, we have not seen any public response proactively made by United. They’re learning a difficult lesson right now in both the power of social media and the need to respond publically to issues that have been made public.
Currently, the YouTube video has reached the 3 million view mark, and Carroll has announced that his second video is nearly complete. It will certainly be an interesting case to keep an eye on.
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