“Go Blue” Gets the Cranky Jackass Award

The marketing minds at JetBlue must not understand the whole college rivalry thing, because their latest promotion is definitely not the brightest idea around.

JetBlue’s brilliant idea was to go to college campuses and make students wear blue and yell “Go Blue” to win free plane tickets. Sounds like a good way to stir up PR, no? Well, not if your arch-rival’s colors are blue and it’s only a couple weeks to the big game.

Problem #1: This article in the Harvard Crimson talks about how everyone thought the promotion was a prank by the Yale students. On November 18, Harvard plays Yale in one of football’s oldest rivalries. Yale’s colors are blue. You think Harvard students want to run around wearing blue and screaming “Go Blue”?

Problem #2: They’re apparently also going to visit Stanford’s campus this week. Um, same problem. Rival Cal’s colors are blue and the Big Game is less than a month away.

Problem #3: I really hope they don’t go to one of their newest destinations, Columbus, Ohio. In case you’re not a football fan, Ohio St is ranked #1 and their arch-nemesis Michigan is ranked #2. They play each other in a mere 9 days, and if an Ohio St fan walks around in blue yelling “Go Blue,” Michigan’s colors, JetBlue might be on the hook for manslaughter charges.

I could go on and on – You’ll find the same problem going to USC’s campus as well. (UCLA is blue) – but there’s really no point. This is just not going to garner good will for the airline at many a college campus, and for that, they get the Cranky Jackass award.