2005jun18. Today, first thing out of the gate on finally being all moved and stuff, I got the tip-off on a Song Airlines ticket giveaway happening in Union Square. They were running a lite quiz show in a big mobile fishbowl – taking people in groups of twelve, handing out inflight menus and paper paddles. The host would ask a trivia question, and you were supposed to wave your little Songpaddle if you knew the answer. They would ask four trivia questions (from a larger pool of one hundred) – the first one was for a hat, the next three for tickets. People kept cycling through until they won or the line got too big. By the time I showed up and was waiting to board the Songbowl they also gave away a ticket to NYC for the member of our group who was the most boisterous when directed to do so by Songstaff. One college-aged kid in front of me went completely spazzo when the signal was given and I believe he won. I was unable to answer the trivia questions fast enough, and after cycling through twice my stomach and brain started kicking me in the head for continuing to torture them so I left and found a pretty good Chinese bakery. A friend of mine won a ticket but immediately ran into problems with it:
I tried to book a flight to Tampa via JFK and was turned down. Stopovers aren’t allowed and there is no reasonable connection between NYC and FL. Right now, Song flies from SFO to JFK. Period. Come September 6, they will also fly from SFO to Boston. And they aren’t too keen on the ol’ connecting flight situation. The guy tried to convince me to buy a ticket for the JFK to Tampa leg.
That’s right, they’re giving away free tickets and then they’re trying to upsell the winners. Oooh, would you like a Bloomin’ Onion before dinner, ma'am? Which reminds me, I went to a SNOW (Shit Nailed On Walls) joint the other day (“Chili’s”) for the first time in a decade and I just wanted to hammer a knife into my skull. I especially liked the post-food upsell ... the waitron unit used some weird phrasing like “What kind of dessert are we going to split between us?”
“We are going to eat your liver. Please lie down.”
In a related news story, a friend was out bowling the other day and there was a random blue-colored pin that would occasionally pop up in a rack. It showed up in his lane as the “head pin” and he just happened to get a strike. Turned out the pin was sponsored by JetBlue and he had just won a round-trip ticket for anywhere JetBlue flies. I mean, if they don’t try to get him to purchase a double-chocolate fudgie-wudgie cake along with it. “How many forks will we be needing?”
For more information on the marketing of Song Airlines, please watch The Persuaders, a PBS Frontline show hosted by Douglas Rushkoff, or visit your local library.