Originally Posted by
s0ssos
I think the flight attendant could care less what United's wishes are. And just because there is a contract it means Coke Zero is good for you?
Actually, it is good sales' practice to criticize a customer's choice. Salespeople often upsell people, and as such it is beneficial to them to make the customer doubt whether or not they made the right choice (initially, by choosing something cheaper).
I hate rental car salespeople, but they often get customers to upgrade their vehicle choice (at great cost) or to add on unnecessary things (the equivalent of rust protection for used car salesmen). As such, they are "doing a good job" (for themselves)
The actual quality of Coke Zero is irrelevant here, as is the concept of the upsell because the FA was not attempting, so far as we can tell, to offer a non-free product instead.
All that it amounted to was an unsolicited criticism of the customer's choice, despite the relationship between the employer and vendor. If the airline had entered into a contract with Coca Cola, it intends to maintain the integrity of that contract and an employee discouraging the choice of the vendor's product. I would discipline any of my employees for publicly denigrating a partner's product, and I would discipline any of my employees for needless criticism of a paying customer. This is a business that has relationships with other businesses and requires happy customers, not shamed customers.