Thanks Intuit, you’re a big help | Travel Research Online

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Thanks Intuit, you’re a big help

Sometimes little things get under my skin. Often, I will just let them go—typically they aren’t a very big deal. But sometimes they fester. Try as I might, they keep coming back and bugging me. And right now, it is a popular commercial that has me fired up. It is kind of stupid to begin with; but it can also be seen as irresponsible. Have you seen it?

I am talking about the new commercial by Intuit for TurboTax and their free product. I get it, the guy finds his way into a dire situation but is somehow relieved that Intuit won’t charge him for his taxes.

But how irresponsible can they be. A guy casually talking and is somehow flung over the side of a cruise ship. I think we all know that cannot happen without copious amounts of alcohol or involvement from another person (or production crew). But there it is for million of people to see. For million of people to wonder if that is possible. For million of people to wonder if cruise travel is safe.

How would Intuit react if the cruise industry produced a commercial where a person’s identity was stolen as criminals hacked into the TurboTax system? “Hey, at least you paid for your cruise before Intuit was hacked” could be the tag line. Now of course, we have not heard of a data breach at Intuit; but we also have not heard of people casually falling off the upper decks of cruise ships.

I have no idea if this commercial will cause concern among potential cruisers. But based on Susan Schaefer’s article last week, I would not doubt it. Maybe I am just overly in tune with the industry and overly sensitive.

But if nothing else, I do know one thing—the travel industry is incredibly sensitive to perceptions and any negative one can cause some harm.

What do you think? Much ado about nothing? Or do I have a point? Leave a comment!

 

  One thought on “Thanks Intuit, you’re a big help

  1. Lori Herren says:

    Mike,
    I am right there with you. Completely poor taste in my opinion. The minute I saw it I could not believe it.

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