MARCH 12, 2009

Southwest Airlines - Hypocrites?

Last year, headlines claimed that Southwest Airlines had become the fashion police when a flight attendant told a passenger she was dressed too provocatively to board the plane. Other passengers came forward saying they had also been asked to cover up before boarding the plane, and one man was even asked to change his t-shirt. When it faced public criticism, the airline claimed that its decision enforced Southwest’s “family-friendly” image, but later apologized for the incidents. Whether it was right to ask passengers to cover up, the airline seemed to be doing its best to maintain this “clean cut” image.

Yet recently, the company decided to plaster a jumbo-sized decal of a scantily clad Sports Illustrated model on the side of a plane. Christi Day, a Southwest spokeswoman wrote on the company blog last month: “It is an absolutely beautiful plane, and hopefully you’ll get to travel on this sometime soon!” While Southwest is thrilled with the new decal, some customers said they feel the airline decal is “offensive” and “in poor taste.”  Mother and frequent flyer Carolyn Dunham commented on Day’s post:

I fly Southwest several times a year with my four children and would stop cold turkey if we were ever made to board that plane. It objectifies women and confused (sic) children. . . .  You have lost your ‘family friendly’ status with this and I, for one, am deeply disappointed with a company that I’ve long admired.

Despite the large amount of attention and discussion, Southwest maintains that only 25% of public reaction was negative. Grant Martin at Gadling isn’t sure the image warrants so much debate:

Women less adorned are all around us, from billboards in New York City to The Sears Catalogue to, oh, I don’t know, THE BEACH. Southwest is just having a little bit of fun turning heads in the direction of their aircraft, but if you can’t stand the sight of a pretty Israeli woman, cover your eyes or stop flying for the next couple of months until they repaint her. The promotion only lasts a few more weeks.

Personally, I think creating the SI plane was the wrong move for Southwest. Not necessarily because of the bikini photo - that’s a different topic altogether - but because of the apparent contradiction in its marketing efforts. If this were Hooters Air, consumers would expect it, but Southwest Airlines said one thing and did another, and that threatens its credibility - never a good thing when trying to gain and maintain loyalty. While it’s true that companies can’t please everyone, they must at least remain consistent in their messaging and core values or risk losing dedicated consumers.

What do you think of this situation? Does this affect your opinion of Southwest?