United Broke My Guitar
David Carroll, lead singer with Canadian band Sons of Maxwell, has taken on United Airlines with a music video, “United Broke My Guitar”. The video, posted on YouTube, has been viewed 719,866 times since it was posted on July 6, 2009.
Maxwell’s $3500 710 Taylor guitar was severely damaged on March 31, 2008, by United Airlines baggage handlers at Chicago. Maxwell’s attempts to get any compensation from United Airlines have been met with passing of responsibility, denial of responsibility and passive resistance. Months later, Carroll has given up trying to convince United Airlines. He has worked with Curve Productions of Halifax to launch the first of three music videos drawing world attention to the airline’s refusal to provide compensation.
Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)
David explains the creative focus for the project on his MySpace site…
“United has demonstrated they know how to keep their airline in the forefront of their customer’s minds and I wanted this project to expand upon that satirically. I’ve been done “being angry” for quite some time and, if anything, I should thank United. They’ve given me a creative outlet that has brought people together from around the world. We had a pile of laughs making the recording and the video while the images are spinning on how to make “United: Song 2” even better than the first. So, thanks United! If my guitar had to be smashed due to extreme negligence I’m glad it was you that did it. Now sit back and enjoy the show.”
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Location 
(Canada).
Posted in Inspiration, Music Videos
(average: 4.64 out of 5)
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From Calgary AB. Love the song and sound.
Now that’s thinking!
Great Job guys United deserves all they get from this one!
From West Oz, top job fellas, what a bunch of jerks that mob are!
Genius!!!!
SIMILAR STORY: I used to tour with blues artist Debbie Davies, and while we were on tour in Hawaii several years ago, along with guitarist Walter Trout and his band, we boarded a flight on Hawaiian Airlines from one island to another. Walter’s road manager and I both saw a baggage handler on the tarmac take Walter’s favorite amplifier head (it was in a road case) and SLAM it down hard on the conveyor belt to be loaded into the plane’s cargo area! When we got to the venue for sound check, the only thing that came out of that amp was a horribly loud buzz/hum!! The impact caused the transformer in the amp to be hanging by one screw, and I beleive that a wire had been ripped out from the blunt force, as well as damamge to some tubes! I don’t know if any monies were sought from the airline from Walter Trout or his management, but all I can tell you this my friends; If you are traveling with a valuable instrument, do what I do, put it in a well-padded gig bag and place it in an overhead bin! NEVER CHECK IT!! When you check in at the ticket desk, a lot of airline employees will try to tell you that it’s not allowed…DON’T LISTEN TO THEM! Be polite but firm and just tell them that you’ve been flying with your instrument for years as a professional touring musician and you’ve never had any problems while boarding at the gate. Tell them that it fits neatly in an overhead without any problems, and flight attendants are always OK with it. If that doesn’t work, also add that it’s a very rare & expensive instrument and you’ve always placed it in an overhead bin with no problems on every flight you’ve taken through the years. Usually, they will then say to you, “Well..it’s really up to the flight attendants on board…” Then you just say, “OK..not a problem. I’ll take that chance then.” Believe me, you will not have a problem at the gate. Unless of course you are taking too much on board! I just take one bass in a gig bag and a small carry-on bag and I never have a problem at the gate. The only thing you want to make sure of is that no one comes along and puts something heavy on top of it! Keep a watchful eye on passengers as they board and just be polite. Yeah, you’ll encounter some people that will give you that disgusted look, or utter something under their breath…just stay calm and polite and everything will be alright!
Now that is revenge. Congrats!