One of the situations and cases that has been captivated by the traditional and social media channels has been what has happened to actor Alec Baldwin. Baldwin was on an American Airlines flight and he did not turn off his phone when asked since he was playing the game Words With Friends. The result was Baldwin acting unprofessionally to the extent he was asked to deplane and no longer be on the flight.
American Airlines went ahead and responded to this situation on Facebook – resulting in thousands of comments and shares across the social networking site. The airline also responded with their messages via Twitter as well – which has been a popular platform for airlines to monitor and engage with their followers particularly on the issue of customer relations. The message that Baldwin sent out regarding this crisis was that he was “singled out.” Yes, I do believe if you are the only one that is not responding to the flight attendants when you do not follow the FAA rules and are not behaving in a professional manner while being disrespectful – well, then I guess you would be singled out. Here is a video from ABC News looking at the situation from a PR point of view:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8zSHUC1b34[/youtube]
What was the next step for Baldwin? It appears that the 30 Rock actor went on SNL this past weekend and posed as the pilot of the American Airlines flight he was on (and later removed) in one of the skits from the popular NBC show. Here is the video from the Today Show not only discussing the SNL appearance by Baldwin, but the reaction of the pilot himself to the SNL “spoof.” It has been interesting to see how these mentions/articles/videos have been shared across various sites – like Twitter. Here is a link to a search I did regarding this case study on Topsy Analytics to see which were the most shared articles and videos in the last week.
There are several variables that come into play with this type of situation. First, American Airlines had the authority to make sure that all electronic devices were off when the doors were closed to get ready to take off – this is standard procedure. Second, this entire situation could have been avoided if Mr. Baldwin had complied with the AA employee and followed the rules – like everyone else does when flying on any airline. The behavior he displayed both to the employees on the flight as well as his fellow flyers was disrespectful and unprofessional. The employees did the appropriate thing in handling the situation – however, it is troubling to see some that are supporting Baldwin for his behavior on the flight. Third, Baldwin has gone ahead and tried to blame others for his actions as well as presenting a gesture of “apology” to a specific target audience (ex. those who watch TV and shows like SNL.)
The last point I would like to make is the issue of influence. Forbes had an article that discussed how brands and companies can’t fight with the Twitter war with these celebrities – I would have to disagree with this. There appears to be a lot of “noise” going on – lots of emotions displayed for the world to see as well as a lot of opinions shared and commented on regarding this situation. At the end of the day – what will be left? What is the impact of the overall reputation for the brand and for the individual involved?
What is key is that while there are many celebrities that may have a large following – their actions and behavior stand by themselves. And these behaviors and actions are displayed for the world to see not only today – but forever thanks to the power of having cached pages and SEO key terms always linking some of these incidents forever with a particular brand and person. From this standpoint, Baldwin does have several issues going on – and not only is American Airlines not happy with him, but Greyhound is not too pleased as well. American Airlines is also thinking about pulling their support for Baldwin’s show 30 Rock as well. It also seems a bit odd to see how both of these brands are actively addressing concerns and comments via social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, Baldwin has deactivated his Twitter account after the American Airline incident.
In summary, the lessons learned in this crisis is to be professional, follow the rules, and be respectful when you are traveling, working, or interacting in another person’s surroundings. We all have to follow the rules and we are all in the same boat (or plane) – let’s all get along and play nice – end of story.
Hope you all are having a great day.
Best Wishes,
Karen
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