Do green airlines send their customers boxes of Styrofoam?

Doug Marshak wants to know. The airline in this case is Delta, which mailed him a box of … well, I’ll get to all that in a second.

But before I do, let it be noted that Delta and other airlines want us to think of them as good corporate citizens. As my colleague Harriet Baskas pointed out in a recent story,

Delta Air Lines, which also has an in-flight recycling program, is currently the only airline recycling airplane carpet through Mohawk Group’s ReCover program, which turns old carpets into new carpets and other products.

So, about that box, then. I’ll let Marshak explain:

I had to share with you this marketing crud I got in the mail today from Delta and its corporate partner, American Express.

The Delta AmEx card wanted me to re-up my membership for another year, and would send me a $100 voucher for doing so. Of course, odds are this voucher will black out every useful travel day, but I was planning on keep the card anyway. I got an email from them about this and went ahead and registered. Who knows, I might be able to use the voucher, and if I do, it will pay for the yearly fee on the card.

Then I get this baloney in the mail. A shrink-wrapped box with the following on the front:

Open the box flap (removing the needless shrink wrap) to see this nice invitation card that I no longer needed because I had already re-upped:

So I’m wondering what’s in the box…

That is a block of Styrofoam.

So Delta, which combined with Northwest to “survive” and cut costs, and wants to upgrade its fleet to have fewer gas-guzzling jets while cramming more of us into smaller spaces to maximize their profits, is sending out boxes filled with nothing but Styrofoam to somehow impress me.

Even better, they sent one to my wife too, even though we share an account.

I have half a thought to call and cancel the card. I know I am going to have serious second-thoughts about re-upping again next year, useless voucher or not.

My reaction? Tsk, tsk.

And not just to my friends at Delta, but also to American Express, which has a few green initiatives of its own and even offers a green card.

But then, I guess you can’t judge a card by its color.

  • http://beth.hawley@gmail.com Lizzie

    Just fyi, you blacked out the “RSVP Code” in the first picture but not the second. Don’t know if it’s important.

  • Liz

    It’s dumb, but also hilarious.

  • Andrew

    This idiocy from the airline that just “lost” a passenger’s dog, too. One more company that will never again see my travel dollars.

  • Doug

    Eh, that was my bad on not blacking out the second one. Not that it matters, it’s been used and I doubt will work again. But if you want to try it, maybe Delta will send me another $100 voucher! They already sent me two boxes of styrofoam and three emails!

  • SpotLight

    Wait a minute. Wait. A minute.

    Hold on to that styrofoam.

    That is the new snack choice in Delta coach.

  • Kevin

    AMEX has done that for other promotions as well. I’ve been a AMEX Gold Card holder for years and from time to time, I get their styrofoam boxes offering me a product/service I already had or knew I could take advantage of.

  • MikeZ

    @SpotLight
    Wait a minute. Doctors say we need more fiber in our diet. Unfortunately, they recommend “soluble” fiber — Styrofoam is INsoluble. Drat… (OTOH, it might turn out to be one of Delta’s more tasty choices anyway.)

    As for this entire mail piece farce, to be fair to Delta, it probably emanated from some direct mail marketing firm hired by Delta and Amex. And as many of us who receive all sorts of direct mail junk, “the environment” is the last thing on their minds. But it would be interesting to see how Delta (or Amex) responds if you were to send a letter (on recycled paper, of course!) to their CEO, taking them to task about this farce and asking whether they’re serious about going green or not.

    In the interest of saving resources, this comment will self-destruct (in an environmentally friendly manner) in 60 seconds… 59… 58… 57…

  • Carlo

    @SpotLight: bwahahahaha!!!!!

    @ Lizzie: No concern about that RSVP code, I guess. It’s still there, several days later. Good eye, though.

    @ Andrew: Bet ALL of them have lost a passenger’s pet at some point.

  • http://www.charlotteairporthotelsguide.com Chad

    Tsk tsk is right! With large corporations, “Green initiatives” are typically marketing hype and nothing more. This is just more evidence of that.