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Southwest and JetBlue to Face Off in Guitar Hero Challenge

There’s plenty of bad news out there about the airline industry these days, and things like swine flu, or the very dumb decision to buzz Lower Manhattan in a presidential 747 aren’t making people any happier.

So, I decided to focus on something a little more lighthearted here: an airline Guitar Hero showdown.

I follow several airlines on Twitter, and usually the info they broadcast has to do with a fare sale or some kind of promotion. Thus, I was surprised when, on April 20th, I saw this item from Southwest:

SouthwestAir Listening to “Smoke on the Water” and wondering if @jetblue is still up for a Guitar Hero challenge in May…

A little less than an hour later, it was followed by:

JetBlue RT: @SouthwestAir: ...wondering if @jetblue is still up for a Guitar Hero challenge in May… -Bring it on! I’ll look for a good venue :)

To get the scoop on this funny exchange, I called up Christi Day, a part of Southwest’s emerging media team and the Twitterer for the airline.

World Hum: So where did you get this Guitar Hero challenge idea from?

Christi Day: Actually the idea came when I ran into Morgan at SXSW—Morgan does the Twittering and emerging media for JetBlue—and we were just talking about what would be fun to do when I come to New York. Me and him are actually giving a speech together at the Bulldog Media Relations Summit in May, and we were like, “Well, what’s something fun that he and I could do to kind of poke fun at the competition but also kind of gather some people around?” You know, the idea of both of us competing and doing something together, so it’s a kind of collaboration as well.

And so, he thought maybe we should challenge each other to a Guitar Hero. And at Southwest we’ve done a lot of Guitar Hero promotions and things like that for different events, so he’s kind of caught onto that—the fact that we like to do it, with the fact that I’m coming to New York, he thought this would be a good opportunity for us to actually battle it out, face to face. And so now, it’s actually kind of grown into something a little bit bigger, and I think he’s invited some other airline folks as well to come represent their appropriate team.

Have you guys decided on a venue yet?

No, we have not. Hopefully we’re going to be able to partner up with maybe a bar of restaurant there in Manhattan, I would imagine, but I think Morgan’s hard at work on putting those plans together.

Are you going to represent Southwest?

I will be behind the guitar representing Southwest. I’ve been practicing very hard. We did determine that we were going to play on the “easy” level, so that everyone had an equal opportunity to compete, and hopefully it will give everyone the opportunity to get together and ask us questions outside of the conference. Because, you know, at a conference like that it’s so quick, in and out, and people don’t get a lot of time to interact with the speakers, and so, hopefully we’ll time it just right so that other people can join us for some drinks and some Guitar Hero fun. And of course we’ll videotape it and Twitter from the event and all that kind of stuff. We’re still working out the details though.

Any predictions on who’s going to win?

Me, of course. [Laughs.] I think I have some great dance moves that will coincide with my great guitar hero gift, I guess that I have—I’m actually kidding.

Thanks, Christi, and good luck.

Editors’ Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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