Outrageous Pitch Suggests Extra Security Is 'Marketing Opportunity for Airlines'

Those of you who attended the PRNewser holiday party know we receive a lot of bad pitches - we read out loud some of the worst offenders at this year's party. We generally don't mind them, as it's part of the game, and our delete button works well, and fast. But sometimes there are pitches that just take the cake. For example, one came into our inbox this morning from 5WPR, who represents "branding expert" Adam Hanft. Hanft suggests all of the extra security precautions at airports could be a "marketing opportunity for airlines." Really. Among his talking points: Airlines also need to rush in and make the long lines at security as tolerable as possible. They should set up flat screen TVs along the path, hand out milk and cookies, and have magicians to occupy crying kids. Milk and cookies? Magicians? PR pros often go with a contrarian or "man bites dog" point of view to get attention, but this seems a bit too far. Read the full pitch after the jump. What's your take? From: xxxxx [mailto:xxx@5wpr.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 5:42 PM Subject: BRANDING EXPERT SAYS EXTRA SECURITY PRECAUTIONS A MARKETING OPPORTUNITY FOR AIRLINES CONTACT: , xxxxx@5wpr.com, 646-xxx-xxxx. Adam Hanft, nationally-known authority on branding and consumer marketing and columnist for Huffington Post and Fast Company sees the extra security precautions as an opportunity for airlines rather than a challenge. He's available from NYC for interview. Some of the key points that Adam can discuss are: - Why are the airlines silent about breakdowns in homeland security and outrageous holes in the system that inconvenience and jeopardize THEIR passengers? - Consumers will start loving any airline with the courage to take a public stand. Flyers know that the airlines don't set security policy, but they're hungry for them to step forward and be as angry and frustrated as they are. - Airlines also need to rush in and make the long lines at security as tolerable as possible. They should set up flat screen TVs along the path, hand out milk and cookies, and have magicians to occupy crying kids. Adam Hanft is a decoder of the consumer culture and our branded planet. He blogs for The Huffington Post, FastCompany.com and The Daily Beast. He is also the co-author of Dictionary of the Future and is founder and CEO of the marketing and branding firm Hanft Projects, working with such brands as AT&T Wireless, Scotts, Reuters, Viacom, AOL Time Warner and Hertz. . Follow him at Twitter.com/hanft.

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Outrageous Pitch Suggests Extra Security Is 'Marketing Opportunity for Airlines'

Joe Ciarallo

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