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Each day we are bombarded with 3700 marketing and sales offers. Each and every day! For the most part, we ignore almost all of them. Why? Because they are boring.

Here’s a TV commercial that is not boring – the Korean Air Global Campaign – The Color of Perfection:

Notice the use of black & white cinematography along with softly painted aquamarine; the soothing music in the background. Everything moves in slow motion almost giving you the feeling of a weightless, romantic spa up in the sky. They don’t use airplanes in flight but flying is implied with images that recall a dreamy experience.

While waiting for my flight at LAX, I noticed to the right of my gate a Korean Air desk and instantly the commercial popped in my head. I start looking for the bright smiles of the Korean Airlines flight attendants and sure enough they appeared floating although walking. At least that’s how I saw them still under the spell of the TV commercial. Precise, distinguished and bright, the female flight attendants walked toward the gate and commenced boarding.

What impressed me the most though, was the effort and the extent of their courtesy while seeking possible air-heads taking a nap in the sea of patiently waiting passengers who could have missed their flight. They moved with purpose and efficiency through the crowd while calling last minute passengers.  Now – that’s really good if not excellent customer service.

In contrast, I remember several years ago when my flight arrived late in Miami from Jamaica and I missed my connection to Detroit. So here I am, wife, small child and 3 pieces of luggage trying to convince the staff of a company that starts with American and ends with Airlines that we really need to get to Detroit and it was not our fault for the 2 hour late landing of Air Jamaica.

Needless to say, nobody gave a “flying sh…” – pun intended, about the 3 stranded Michiganders in the Miami Dade Airport. We were told to sit tight and get on the next plane like everyone else. No apologies, no special accommodations, not even a bag of peanuts. Now – that’s really crappy customer service.

I didn’t expect the royal treatment; not even a bump to First Class. Just some sympathy and  2 minutes of your “precious time” while pretending you are trying to help with my problems.

Ask me if I flew with that airline since. No wonder they were on the brink of bankruptcy; no wonder most American companies are outsourcing their customer service overseas; with an attitude like that who needs the aggravation? If the person on the other end shows some respect and courtesy, I can deal with a bit of an accent and not a perfect command of the English language.

What can be more memorable-a great TV commercial or a really bad experience? Let me know what you think. I promise I’ll listen.