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My letter to a CNN advertiser, Trivago

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posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 04:57 AM
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So in light of recent events I have decided to protest CNN the only way I feel will have any impact, with my money.

Several times a year myself and my current GF travel and use Trivago, I used it extensively and exclusively during my time in Asia and since Ive been back. My GF also uses them for all her non work organised business travel and in the time we have been together we have also used it 3 times for short getaways.

We have had nothing but great experiences with their app but due to them being a CNN advertiser we will now be using a competitor.

I thought of getting on social media to blast them but my heart wasnt in it, once again we have had nothing but great experiences with them and I doubt they take politics into consideration when they choose their advertising space so Im not going to blame them directly for my decision or CNN's behavior.

All the same I felt I wanted to do something and short of social media terrorism or organising a massive protest this was all that was left to me to do




Dear Trivago, My girlfriend and myself travel extensively for both work and leisure and we have been using your site for years now, we find the site has great deals, is convenient and very user friendly.
Sadly as of today we will no longer be using your site to book our accommodation, not through any bad experiences we have had using your wonderful site, but due to the fact you are an advertiser on CNN.
I wont bother going into the finer details of this decision with you I will just say that I believe CNN to be corrupt and immoral and ceasing to use the services of those who advertise with them is the only way I can show my disgust with any hope of impact.

In March of this year we will be travelling to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam again and we would love to use your service but if you are still advertising with CNN we will be using one of your competitors. Again I would like to stress we have had nothing but great experiences using your site but we will no longer be customers due to who you support with advertising $$$.
I appreciate we are only 2 people out of many millions and our departure will not in anyway affect your bottom line or profit margin but I felt compelled to give you this feedback.
Thank you very much for all your help over the years and please let me know or make some sort of press release should you cease your advertising agreement with CNN.

Regards


While I did feel somewhat sad deleting their app as the company had done nothing bad I cant deny at the same time it was immensely satisfying


My method in the short term may not be as effective as 10's of 1000's of snowflakes screeching at them via twitter or FB or marching in the street defacing their logo but I am a genuine user of their service and if enough genuine users like myself voice our opinion and vote with our wallets there is a chance to enact some very real change and make CNN feel the consequences or their disgusting biases.

Im not the sort to hold a grudge and if they do stop advertising with CNN I will be more than happy to start using their services again.

I thought of doing this with all the companies listed HERE but most of them Id never heard of let alone spent money with and I didnt want my personal protest to be diluted with BS.

Short of an actual revolution this is how we should protest, this is how we should voice our disdain for what CNN has become, this is how we keep the moral high ground and make the system work for us and not against us.

Protests on the street make alot of noise and get alot of attention and due to PC pressure companies often cave, what I always found amusing was why companies cared about a few 1000 hippies who are out protesting in the middle of a work day thus showing they dont have jobs and therefore the money to buy the products of the companies they are protesting???

We dont need to make noise or cause a disturbance we just need to consume responsibly
Heres hoping others on here feel compelled to do the same



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 05:31 AM
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a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

ULTIMATUM!

Why didn't you try reasoning with them first, instead of flatly denying them your business? If you like this company, why not give them the benefit of the doubt? How about asking them to reconsider their advertising choices as you reconsider your booking choices.

Jeez, how many hours has it been since the Donald denied CNN a question at his press conference, and called then out for "fake news"?



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 05:46 AM
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Nicely done.

I have been wageing personal boycotts for about 7 years now. It is satisfying.

On the down side, I haven't had a snickers in 7 years, or an m&m.

Even worse, I just had to stop buying Willy Wonka candies after finding out Nestle owns them now. Life without a giant chewy sweettart is going to be rough, but I will manage. Just replace the snack time with jerky I guess.

Best of luck, and keep it up.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 05:47 AM
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originally posted by: windword
a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

ULTIMATUM!

Why didn't you try reasoning with them first, instead of flatly denying them your business? If you like this company, why not give them the benefit of the doubt? How about asking them to reconsider their advertising choices as you reconsider your booking choices.

Jeez, how many hours has it been since the Donald denied CNN a question at his press conference, and called then out for "fake news"?



Fair point


To be honest its mainly laziness plus I know it wouldnt do any good as 1 person.

While in Asia I was consulting for large companies including hotels on sales and customer service, if I was to get into any sort of back and forward it would at best be with a customer service manager who was in no position to make any changes and who most likely wouldnt report our discussion to their higher ups as it would look like a failure on their behalf.

For this to have any impact several thousand genuine customers will need to remove the App and say why they did or write to them leaving an email acc that has used their services.

This method has a much higher chance of getting to a genuine decision maker as the person who does read it initially will in no way be at fault and will be more inclined to pass it up the chain

EDIT: It most definitely wasnt an ultimatum, it was a polite EXPLANATION

edit on 12/1/2017 by IkNOwSTuff because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 05:49 AM
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a reply to: windword

"In March of this year we will be travelling to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam again and we would love to use your service but if you are still advertising with CNN we will be using one of your competitors. Again I would like to stress we have had nothing but great experiences using your site but we will no longer be customers due to who you support with advertising $$$. "


He did say (as quoted above) in his letter that he is willing to give the site another chance, just not if they are still advertising with the fake news site known as CNN. I think this is very fair of him.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:00 AM
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It would be interesting to see how many ATS members are engaged in personal boycotts and what companies are affected. Might make for a good read.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:00 AM
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a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

One person at a time got Macy's to pull Trump's clothing line. Of course, Trump called for a Macy's boycott afterwards. Then it developed into quite a movement, calling for a more widespread action boycotting Ivanka's line, Trump's line and the family wine business.

Of course, Macy's announced its closing stores and 10,000 people are losing jobs. I suppose the Donald will take credit for that, but I think retail/mall stores closing is just a sign of the times......(sorry if off topic).



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:04 AM
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a reply to: StarsInDust

Thanks, I glossed over that part, I guess. Never the less, one should be booking NOW for a trip abroad in March, shouldn't they?



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:13 AM
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originally posted by: windword
a reply to: StarsInDust

Thanks, I glossed over that part, I guess. Never the less, one should be booking NOW for a trip abroad in March, shouldn't they?



Flights are booked but we dont like to plan to far ahead, weve got a month and we dont wanna work by an itinerary, always have more fun and adventure when you let the wind blow you



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:18 AM
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originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Fair point


To be honest its mainly laziness plus I know it wouldnt do any good as 1 person.


Believe it or not but many of these large and 'anonymous' companies will respond directly to you if you send an email or letter. I had the President of PepisCo call me directly once over a service issue just by writing him a letter and CC'ing some of the other executives.



edit on 12-1-2017 by AugustusMasonicus because: networkdude has no beer



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:26 AM
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a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Fun and adventure using an app?
Fun and adventure is turning up at a place with no links and paying less for the same accommodation that others booked on an app.
You've never 'really' travelled if you rely on your phone.

edit on 12.1.2017 by grainofsand because: typo



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:32 AM
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originally posted by: grainofsand
You've never 'really' travelled if you rely on your phone.


Exactly.

Scrambling around the not so good part of Cancun, asking 'donde esta nuestro hotel?', in the days before Google Maps, was something I cannot describe in just words.



edit on 12-1-2017 by AugustusMasonicus because: Zazz 2020!



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:37 AM
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originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Fun and adventure using an app?
Fun and adventure is turning up at a place with no links and paying less for the same accommodation that others booked on an app.
You've never 'really' travelled if you rely on your phone.


HAHAHA

I did the backpacking "following the hottest girl at the hostel" travel game for over 6 months, good times


Getting too old, fussy and accustomed to comfort to be trudging round in 40 degree heat with a suitcase looking for a hotel that has AC and an above ground toilet now haha



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:40 AM
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a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I was thinking more along the lines of chatting to people who paid £1000+ for two weeks at the same beach resort I was paying US$20 a night for.

I have travelled much and I've never booked in advance except for flights, I like real adventure not pseudo box set adventure.
Best wishes to those who do though.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:41 AM
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originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Fair point


To be honest its mainly laziness plus I know it wouldnt do any good as 1 person.


Believe it or not but many of these large and 'anonymous' companies will respond directly to you if you send an email or letter. I had the President of PepisCo call me directly once over a service issue just by writing him a letter and CC'ing some of the other executives.




Yeah Im sure Id get a response but I just cant be arsed dealing with it.
The complete lack of sincerity with the whole "we value your opinion" stuff and the fact my message said everything that needed to be said is enough for me.
Plus I dont have any secret handshakes or codewords to go with my letter of disapproval so would probably not get the same result as yourself



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:43 AM
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a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Haha fair one!

Suitcase though? I've never owned one, only backpacks, must be the gypsy in me.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:45 AM
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originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Yeah Im sure Id get a response but I just cant be arsed dealing with it.
The complete lack of sincerity with the whole "we value your opinion" stuff and the fact my message said everything that needed to be said is enough for me.


Then what was the point of your letter if you did not want a legitimate response? When I wrote my letter I wanted to correct the situation and we did.



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:53 AM
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Nicely done .
Best way to hit them - in the wallet .



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 06:54 AM
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originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
Yeah Im sure Id get a response but I just cant be arsed dealing with it.
The complete lack of sincerity with the whole "we value your opinion" stuff and the fact my message said everything that needed to be said is enough for me.


Then what was the point of your letter if you did not want a legitimate response? When I wrote my letter I wanted to correct the situation and we did.


If enough people do it then the outcome will be positive, I just cant be bothered dealing with customer service people, I used to teach them how to do their jobs and I cant stand them haha

Out of curiosity what was your complaint and what was the outcome?



posted on Jan, 12 2017 @ 07:00 AM
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originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff
If enough people do it then the outcome will be positive, I just cant be bothered dealing with customer service people, I used to teach them how to do their jobs and I cant stand them haha


An 'eff you' letter is not going to get a reply. I message couched in a manner that shows you are a loyal customer who is genuinely upset but willing to remain if certain issues get resolved most likely will get a reply.


Out of curiosity what was your complaint and what was the outcome?


It was a series of very poor service-related issues. The president of PepsiCo handled them directly. They were all resolved the next week and we were reimbursed for any out of pocket expenses.




edit on 12-1-2017 by AugustusMasonicus because: networkdude has no beer



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