Guitar Smash Turns Into Sour Note for United

Still not sure about this social media thing and how it might have an impact on your business? While there are positive stories (and many more to come), read on about how airline arrogance came back to haunt United — thanks to a video message and blog.

With a smashed $3,500 guitar by United baggage handlers and a frustrating customer experience involving denied resolution, country singer Dave Carroll got innovative.

Thanks to digital production capacity and some remarkable creativity, Carroll and his band put together a finely tuned video message chronicling the debacle. The four-minute and 37-second video subsequently went viral and so far has attracted no less than 4.5 million views on YouTube.

Mashable’s Jennifer Van Grove wrote: “United is [now] feeling the wrath of citizen journalism, the social Web and the millions of airline travelers who can identify with Carroll’s experience.”

MidwestBusiness.com columnist Michael Snyder of The MEK Group has the full story.