Customer Speak – A Marketing Blog from Bridgz Marketing Group

A recent episode with Kevin Smith and Southwest Airlines provides another glaring example illustrating that in today’s business landscape the customer rules, whether right or wrong. I’m not saying Smith is wrong, but I don’t think he was totally right either. There was a fair amount of media exploitation going on.

What he did was launch a Twitter tirade after being asked to leave a flight from Oakland to Burbank last Saturday, because his over-sized body was supposedly too large to fit in the seat and he was infringing on the space of the person next to him, as well as creating a safety threat — at least that’s how it was rationalized by the pilot and crew.

The story quickly became a national media sensation, from tweets to blogs to news syndicates and network television.  It will no doubt die just as quickly. This is the nature of media today; it has become way too overblown, with a daily appetite that far exceeds the availability of substantive news important and relevant to our lives. I’m wondering if the media attention wasn’t a little disproportionate to the news value, and if this ordeal would’ve gotten the same play had it been just another Smith and not a famous movie director, or a skinny person tweeting about the overweight person next to them taking up half their seat space.

Of course, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) had to weigh in on the matter, charging the airlines with discrimination and encouraging people of size to boycott the company.

For their part, Southwest claims they were just trying to follow protocol. The airline doesn’t guarantee standby seating, and they do have a “customers of size” policy that protects the rights of other passengers.

Southwest handled the situation in a professional manner, with humility and numerous public apologies. It is a reputable company, known for its customer-centric business practices, but they took it in shorts on this one. Perhaps the lesson learned is that, when it comes to meeting the needs of different customers, one size does not fit all. With the high rate of obesity in this country it might be a good idea to offer the option of wider seats in the back of the plane at a nominally higher price, much like first-class in front but without the frills.

I’ll probably be hearing from NAAFA for proposing to relegate people of size to the back of the plane, but they should support such an idea. They are holding their annual convention in San Francisco on August 5, so the airlines may want to be prepared.