American Airlines Contest PR Problem: Winning Sucks

American Airlines has PR trouble brewing. On July 6, the Wall St. Journal reported that Jack McCall, winner of American's "We Know Why You Fly" contest, had to pay $20,000 dollars if he wanted to claim the 12 round-trip tickets for two that he won, valued at $52,800. No thanks, he said. And today the story hit the NY Daily News

Google News shows 49 stories while Technorati lists 11 posts and dozens more under "American Airlines"

Are you listening American Airlines? Remember Kryptonite? That little problem eventually cost them millions. Remember Kensington?

Did American Airlines explain the pricing and requirements to potential winners? Yes.

Is this anything like Kryptonite? No.

One was a company selling protection/security that could be hacked with a pen. They had to replace products.

The other is a company giving away tickets (with full disclosure) for someone that produced a customer endorsement.

Now, would it be wise for American Airlines to cover the taxes, too? Yes. It may pose image problems for the airline, but it is no where near the devastation Kryptonite experienced.

Also, the contestant could have done a little reading of the fine print and even done a little bickering to see what the airline would do to make it valuable for him.

How is this like Kryptonite? It's not even remotely the same.

I know it reads better than 'winner didn't read fine print, neglected to consult accountant and pay his obligation to the IRS,' but that doesn't make it true.