Guitar Hero Showdown: These Are Your Airlines On Twitter

May 19, 2009 at 9:16 AM | by JetSetCD | 5 Comments

Last night at an unassuming bar in Midtown Manhattan, we ordered up some mozzarella sticks and raised a beer to the first official Guitar Hero showdown between airline Twitter representatives. It was, as you can imagine, a combination of video games, general nerdiness, and hilarity which made the event a success.

Appropriately enough, the idea for a Guitar Hero match between the two top Twittering airlines of Jetblue and Southwest Airlines gathered strength at the music and media SXSW festival back in March. Both Jetblue's Morgan Johnston and Southwest's Christi Day were there and discovered that they'd both be in Manhattan in May for yet another conference, so why not pep up the festivities?

A crowd filled the place and stuffed their faces with sliders as Morgan and Christi went head-to-head on an as yet unreleased Guitar Hero game: Smash Hits. They battled it out with Deep Purple's "Smoke On the Water" and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out." Southwest made a valiant effort, but Jetblue swept both songs in the end, giving Morgan the pleasure of awarding Jetblue tickets to the winners of the open competition.

So why is this news? Think back to the stodgy image of airlines in the past, especially the 1990s; this type of communing with their passengers wouldn't have happened, nor could it have since social networks didn't exist. Small, open events such as this Guitar Hero challenge are a perfect example of innovative and modern customer relations and PR. Now if only someone could develop in-flight Guitar Hero to make overnight flights literally rock.

Related Stories:
· Southwest and Jetblue to Face Off in Guitar Hero Challenge [WorldHum]
· @Jetblue [Twitter]
· @SouthwestAir [Twitter]
· Twitter Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

5 Comments

Return to » Guitar Hero Showdown: These Are Your Airlines On Twitter

juliana
Jaunted Contributing Editor

awesome!
i love this match-up idea. i hope they do more in the future! except maybe next time they could play guitar hero on a bigger screen? that one looks tiny and far away.

May 19, 2009 at 9:51 AM

#Permalink

Morgan Johnston
Jaunted Reader

Thanks!
And thanks for coming! - It's a strange strange new world when Official Airline reps get to play games (in a good way) with their customers, and with others in the industry. and I'm absolutely up for another round - I'll just need to figure out how to work "Official Gamer" into my corporate title.

May 19, 2009 at 10:14 AM

#Permalink

brooklynnomad
Jaunted Member

Love it
I agree that websites like Twitter have made airlines seem more friendly and personable to customers. I think SW and JB are both great examples that by using these sites, their image as a company will be more positive. I am on Twitter and love the contest Southwest does, like giving away free tix and hotel to Vegas if you are the first person to snap a twitpic and send it to them with the item they requested. American, Continental and all of the other big guys need to wake up.

May 19, 2009 at 10:41 AM

#Permalink

Christi Day
Jaunted Reader

Texas Flag?
So much fun! Thanks everyone that came out to the event...and the Texas Flag over my shoulder was completely intentional right? -Christi

May 20, 2009 at 12:38 PM

#Permalink

lindaotwel
Jaunted Member

new visitor
Today I visited the High Line for the first time and loved the gestalt of the whole project. The best remark I overheard was from a child passing while I was chilling on a wooden lounge. He said that he wished he was around when the railroad used to run on the tracks. - Linda who is looking for the best electric toothbrush

July 19, 2009 at 6:24 PM

#Permalink

Jaunted

Select a Destination:

Tags: Twitter / Jetblue / Southwest Airlines / Airline Parties / → All Tags