United Breaks Guitars

It was the song heard around the world.

When I learned about this brilliant response to customer service hell on +CNN, I immediately jumped on +YouTube and watched the whole video.

This interview was apparently on day three after +Dave Carroll uploaded Song One of a three-song set in response to United Airlines giving him the runaround for breaking his Taylor guitar. He was hoping to receive a million hits for all three songs. Instead, he received a million hits before the end of that week. Now the video is reaching beyond 13 million hits.

So what made this song so popular?

It spoke everyone's language. Who hasn't had bad customer service at an airline? Who hasn't been given the runaround when service goes bad? This song represented the voice of all of North America. Plus the tune is kind of catchy.

My own behavior got me wondering if anyone else had done the same thing. After viewing the song, I went through Dave's other songs and perused the +Sons of Maxwell YouTube channel. Then I bought a CD.

But selling CDs isn't the best part of the story.

Viewers began sending Dave accounts of their own customer service hell, and he saw an opportunity to give people a voice. So he started the Gripevine.

Then came a book: United Breaks Guitars The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media.

Next: you can see Dave join us on +Social Chats when my cohosts +Cynthia K Seymour, +Tonya Scholz, and +Susy Rosado interview him for the hour. Tune in live on Friday, March 1 at 1PM EST.

You will find the link to the live and recorded show here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cd7c1vd6bt7gl6aovjeno53cq2k.

Song 2:



Song 3: