A Company Used A Tragedy To Push A Coupon And The Internet Wasn't Having It

At about 6:05 a.m. PST on Monday the 22nd, AirportParkingReservations.com sent out an email to their users using a recent tragedy to push a $5 off coupon. The internet didn't respond well.

On September 15, 2014....

A man was found dead at Chicago O'Hare's parking lot. The story which can be found at http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/26534336/man-found-dead-in-ohare-parking-lot didn't make national headlines, but local Chicago residents were aware through local media.

On Sept 22, 2014, online travel company Airport Parking Reservations sent out the following email to it's users

The email then gave a chance for users to get $5 off their next reservation.

Twitter users took to the website to voice their concerns

Via twitter.com

People were outraged at the email being sent to them.

At about 1:30 p.m. PST on Sept 22, their twitter handle @airport_parking started responding back to some of the tweets

Via Twitter: @airport_parking

And at 3:37 p.m. PST on Sept 22, the company sent out a second email apologizing

This was actually well-worded and I give them respect for sending an updated email.

On a personal note...

Social media and email marketing divisions at a company have a responsibility for their actions. I have used this company in the past and will continue to do so because their service is fantastic. I just hope the callous and insensitive employee that did this is spoken to.