Zappos has ads in TSA bins?!
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: EWR
Programs: CO
Posts: 102
Zappos has ads in TSA bins?!
And TSA gets the money for it.
http://blogs.zappos.com/whyweadverti...s#comment-3741
Goodbye Zappos shopping!
http://blogs.zappos.com/whyweadverti...s#comment-3741
Goodbye Zappos shopping!
#3
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 642
Well, there's a company that will not get any of my business.
Oh, and to answer your question eturowski.
Oh, and to answer your question eturowski.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
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They just associated their name with the worst name in the world.
#6
Moderator: Chase Ultimate Rewards
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Probably worth everyone's time to sign up and post a civil, concise comment to their blog. The most likely explanation is that they haven't thought this thru, and it could be a nice publicity "win" for folks who dislike TSA's current system if Zappos changes their mind.
#7
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^
And, due to the better training and additional resources, airports that have sponsors for their security bins have seen an average of a 16% improvement in wait time in getting through the lines. I’m not sure how much you travel, but that seems like a pretty good deal to me!
#9
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#10
Join Date: Mar 2008
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CEO's email: [email protected]
#11
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: BOS
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Posts: 1,049
After re-thinking my post above...
Okay, so the concept of privately-sponsored public property is not exactly new (ads on subway trains, buses, etc.). However, public transportation is generally perceived to be beneficial to the people. TSA checkpoints... well, we all know what we think of them. It seems like sub-optimal business sense to allocate advertising dollars to subsidize such a controversial procedure.
If Zappos has enough excess profits resulting from my shoe purchases to reach out and sponsor the government-run POS that is the TSA, then I can only conclude that they are charging too much for what I am receiving, and I am going to take my business elsewhere.
It would be interesting to find out if Zappos solicited the TSA for ads, or if the TSA is offering their property as adspace and Zappos was the lucky bidder.
What's next? PPE for screeners provided by Trojan? Backscatter devices with ads for the TV series Big Brother? Groupon Gropes?
Okay, so the concept of privately-sponsored public property is not exactly new (ads on subway trains, buses, etc.). However, public transportation is generally perceived to be beneficial to the people. TSA checkpoints... well, we all know what we think of them. It seems like sub-optimal business sense to allocate advertising dollars to subsidize such a controversial procedure.
If Zappos has enough excess profits resulting from my shoe purchases to reach out and sponsor the government-run POS that is the TSA, then I can only conclude that they are charging too much for what I am receiving, and I am going to take my business elsewhere.
It would be interesting to find out if Zappos solicited the TSA for ads, or if the TSA is offering their property as adspace and Zappos was the lucky bidder.
What's next? PPE for screeners provided by Trojan? Backscatter devices with ads for the TV series Big Brother? Groupon Gropes?
#12
Moderator: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SFO
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Posts: 5,454
From the blog post:
So they contract with a placement company, who puts their ads all over airports, including the TSA checkpoint.
Very easy problem to fix. Zappos tells Security Point Media to stop placing ads in bins. Done.
There are a number of advertising opportunities at airports (billboards, bin trays, free wifi, etc.) of which we've participated in. There could conceivably be a day when TSA is no longer required at airports, and we'd still be advertising in airports (including bins). Right now, we have no control over the government requiring TSA to be at all airports. For this effort, we contract with a media placement company (Security Point Media) who then contracts with the actual airports (not TSA). Thank you for your continued interest.
Very easy problem to fix. Zappos tells Security Point Media to stop placing ads in bins. Done.