Dave Carroll

I’M DOING ANOTHER AIRLINE VIDEO !!!

In 16 years I’ve been requested by individuals with bad airline experiences to compose United Breaks Guitars-like songs for them, 100’s of times. I never have.

The main reason I declined is that I’ve felt that it would be inauthentic if you simply get someone else to tell your story because authenticity and personal investment is a key ingredient to engagement on social media.

In many cases I also realized that the people asking for my help have no idea what goes into creating an original song, that makes people feel something on the FIRST listen, then conceptualizing an entertaining video, and then finding a way to bring it all together. Because it LOOKED effortless, some people believe it is, and so asking me to repeat it for them was akin to ordering a hamburger that I could just whip-off in my sleep.

This summer though I met a young man from Uzbekistan who truly understands the craft and the work involved in creating a UBG style video. He had an awful experience with an airline while in Europe and has been ignored by the airline for 2 years.

This June, while visiting friends in BC , he saw I was playing a gig here in Halifax so he flew here, and came to my show, to ask me for 10 mins of my time to tell me his story and ask for my help. He said “you’re a legend in Uzbekistan… everyone knows you there”. I’m not sure that’s true but the video has travelled around the world. It got to him at least.

I explained I’ve never done that for others, for the first reason I mentioned above, around authenticity. I added that there is absolutely no guarantee of viral success these days, if there ever was. Still he wanted to press forward. I declined again, and said that I appreciated him coming in-person to ask me, then drove him to his AirBNB and said goodbye, figuring I’d never see him again.

But he persisted on WhatsAp and so I started asking questions. Why do you want to do this? What is your goal? Will you allow the airline to do the right thing if the video gets their attention? What does success look like for you? Why aren’t you just giving up?

I liked his answers and his WHY. So guess what?

I am poised to help a man who lives in Uzbekistan stand-up to an airline whose indifference towards him created a cascade of bad experiences that no one would enjoy. I won’t name them just yet but it’s NOT United.

I have written the new song. I’ve produced the full production 3 min 20 sec recording with world class musicians in Halifax and I have to say : it hits the mark, hard, and has more hooks than a box of fishing tackle.

Why am I saying “yes” to this? I’m doing it because if what happened to him, happened to me I’d want to hold them accountable. He needs some help though and I have the ability and the time to help him. Saying “no” would have been bad karma but, truth be told, 1% of my reasoning was because he said I was a LEGEND.

I believe the airline made a calculated assessment that this passenger would have no means of effectively standing up for himself. Unfortunately for this airline, this Uzbek is now friends with the Canadian fella who owns one of the most famous customer service stories in history. He’s no longer the small guy standing up to the big airline . My friend and I will be standing up together and,hopefully, more will stand with us.

I have a voice and I’m going to use it.

There’s a video coming and my friend from Uzbekistan is arriving to Halifax to join me in telling his story at the end of September.

With luck, more people will take interest and share what we create. So please buckle up , put your chair backs in their complete and upright position and your tray tables away. We’ll be taking-off very shortly .