Alec Baldwin makes a surprise appearance on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' following American Airlines incident.
‘30 Rock‘ star Alec Baldwin made a special appearance on the ‘Saturday Night Live’ to mock a recent real-life incident where he was kicked off an American Airline flight.
Flight attendants kicked Alec Baldwin off an American Airlines flight last week after he refused to turn off his cell phone because he was playing the popular game Words With Friends.
While Baldwin apologized to passengers for the mishap, he has not expressed any remorse for his actions or offered any apology to the airlines.
Instead, Baldwin went on ‘Saturday Night Live‘ and its “Weekend Update” segment playing American Airlines “Captain Steve Rogers.” In the skit, the character refers to Alec Baldwin as an “American treasure” and apologizes to the actor.
“I am ashamed at the way he was treated,” the “pilot” said in the skit. “I mean, what harm would it do to let him keep playing his game? Not just any game mind you, but a word game for smart people.”
So was this a good idea, from a damage control crisis management PR perspective?
“I think it was a brilliant way to attack the situation in the court of public opinion,” says Glenn Selig, a crisis management PR pro with The Publicity Agency. “The reality is while most people would not have reactive acted exactly as Alec Baldwin did, many people who fly often felt like leaving on their phones and playing their games. To those people, Alec is a hero. Bashing the airlines is very popular.”
Selig says a strategy like this only works when no one gets hurt or when you don’t appear to be making light of a serious situation.
“Because this wasn’t serious, humor is the best way of approaching this,” says Selig.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Alec Baldwin doesn’t start doing ads for Words With Friends,” says Selig. “If the company has not yet contacted Alec, it should!”
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SOURCE: The Publicity Agency
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