When a brand disaster strikes: What not to do
Thankfully, all 165 passengers aboard a China Airlines jet escaped safely after their Boeing 737 crashed and burst into flames at an airport in Okinawa. Covering the crash, news cameras from around the world panned slowly across the China Airlines logo on the fuselage of the charred plane. In an effort to protect their brand, airline executives decided to send out a team to paint over the logo. Unfortunately, the strategy backfired. Reporters returned to the crash once more — this time to cover the airline's ineffective attempt to save face. The lesson learned? When something bad happens to your brand, whitewashing is not the answer.
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September 21st, 2007 at 9:59 am
Whitewashing the logos of a crashed airliner as actually very common, even in the United States. It’s often done as soon as possible and at the same time as the investigation into the crash. I think it’s more of an attempt to save face in the future rather than in regards to a specific crash. It would be much more damaging to have a large historical record showing the logo from every crash at every angle.
I think with increased access to media via the internet, along with the proliferation of cameras, cell-phones and the like, this practice is becoming more noticable. The fact that this crash happened at the airport also hightened its visibility.
You’re right, it’s totally about branding. It’s the same reason McDonald’s requires the complete removal of their logo and singage after one of their restaurants closes.