Airlines ban unusual things all the time.
But Southwest Airlines’ latest addition to its prohibited-items list was weird enough that it almost immediately inspired some internet trolling. 😆
I have to admit that I have a great admiration for creative people. It’s probably why I love MCO’s and TPA’s respective social media sites – because they’re just so imaginative.
But I think I have a particular admiration for people who troll. I don’t mean internet trolls, who cause problems on message boards, forums and groups…they’re just A-holes. But if a company has a certain “something” that deserves to be made fun of, I appreciate a little push back – as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, of course.
We’ve written about a few of those kinds of situations in the past:
- She trolled the government with her passport pic; they trolled her right back
- That time when Amtrak trolled Southwest Airlines
- When The Onion began making fun of Southwest Airlines
And speaking of Southwest Airlines… you may have recently read that Southwest added something else to its “banned item” list. But this one was really weird – they banned, of all things, humanoid robots from flights.
The ban apparently came about because of this guy, Dallas entrepreneur Aaron Mehdizadeh, and his humanoid robot, Stewie.
Southwest didn’t like the idea of Stewie being on their flights, and therefore banned humanoid robots.
So Mehdizadeh trolled the airline (to the nth degree, I’d say) with this:
Because Stewie may not be allowed on flights…but he’s still allowed in airports.
At the end of the day, Southwest Airlines probably never expected they’d have to publicly clarify a policy about humanoid robots.
And honestly? The fact that we’ve apparently reached a point in society where “no humanoid robots onboard” has to be an actual airline rule feels both hilarious and mildly dystopian at the same time. 😆
Still, if Aaron Mehdizadeh’s goal was to troll Southwest Airlines in the funniest way possible without actually breaking the rules, it’s hard not to admit he absolutely nailed it.
Because sure — Stewie may not be allowed on the plane.
But watching a humanoid robot casually hanging out at the airport, and interacting with the airline’s team members, is apparently still fair game. 🤖✈️
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