Nearly One Billion Views Later ...

9/22/2010

Just think – an otherwise run-of-the-mill customer service complaint turns into a YouTube video that resonates with so much that it has been viewed nearly a billion times. I'll let Dave Carroll tell his own story about why and how the video come to be. For me, I wish the video didn't portray Mexicans the way it does. Poor taste, if you really want to know my opinion. But I still just cannot believe that it has nearly ONE BILLION views.

Shows once again the power of social media, particularly in this case, YouTube. We have heard of other instances where someone complains about something about about some company – so in just 140 characters on Twitter – and how in some cases, the situation is rectified seemingly right away. No more stomping your feet at the customer-service counter in some store in front of other dissatisfied or disinterested folks. Just tweet and all will be well.

In any case, we call cannot turn an unfortunate situation into a song and notoriety. But it's nice to know that if you do tweet a complaint, just maybe someone will listen and do something to make it right. Just maybe.

9 Comments

Colleen Herrmann

1/20/2011 03:05:14 am

The idea that customer service issues could be resolved with as simple an act as a tweet is amazing but I still sometimes doubt the ability of social media to fix all of society's problems. After all society has a whole has many issues that one person tweeting about simply cannot fix.

Mark Strotman

1/20/2011 11:15:18 am

Maybe it's because it was done in comedic form, but I think this could be a revelation. Social media is letting people do things they never thought possible, this being one of them. It's scary to think, but I think there are literally ZERO limitations.

Jodi Denk

1/23/2011 08:47:51 am

Videos like this make me question whether or not social media is a good thing. The amount of views shows how popular a simple video can be, but it's not just about the number of views. It's creative but what impact does this have on United Airlines? Does this make it ok for others to complain about other things in a public forum? What purpose does this serve?

Joshua Arter

1/23/2011 10:04:12 am

I originally saw this video when my dad forwarded an email he received. To be honest, viral videos and how they become so popular fascinates me. Really it is an honest look at a company. A customer was slighted and ended up telling the world about it.

Ashley De La Torre

1/24/2011 05:16:03 am

I think it was creative however the message (if there was one) was lost to me because I felt that it was offensive. That's the one thing about social media that is so crazy, someone could put literally anything they want up and it's there forever. How do you expect to get a message across when your offending people therefore excluding viewers from your audience that could help your cause?

Trey Killian

1/24/2011 11:11:44 am

I feel that the fact that some comments on this video find it offensive leads back to the fact that whatever you post on the internet can have a long lasting impact on your brand. For example a video like this that some would consider offensive can turn off future employers to the person who posts it. Suppose he is trying to get a job from someone of Hispanic descent?

Becca French

8/31/2011 06:42:58 am

I will commend him on the way he went about this complaint. In this day and age, someone saying something negative on Twitter just doesn't faze a company, because they're just one customer, right? But when someone takes the time to make and edit a video that then goes viral on YouTube, they clearly want to get their point across. I don't know exactly how effective this could be if everyone decided to jump on the video complaint bandwagon, but for now, it's a efficient way to draw negative attention toward a company.

Andrea Anderson

8/31/2011 06:47:03 am

After seeing this video and the number of views I do question the power of social media for the good. It is offensive at times and I do not agree with how Hispanics are portrayed, this also can have a huge effect on the Air Lines. Branding has an impact and this is branding.

There also is another typo in the first paragraph, "how the video come to be."

Carlie Campbell

1/18/2012 02:29:25 am

Compared to some other "viral videos" out there, at least this one serves a purpose. As entertaining as it is to watch a baby laugh for two minutes, or a little girl talk about Star Wars, it's refreshing to me to see creative energies being channeled as a means to achieve a goal.

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Nearly One Billion Views Later ...

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