I got to thinking about the TSA Body Scan uproar this week. First thought – Don’t ya think the left is awful quiet about it?
If George W. Bush was doing this, Democrat bloggers would be screaming and Democrat leaders would be marching in protests. Heck, they went apoplectic over the Patriot Act and I never could find anyone ever impacted by the Patriot Act.
Democrats went nuts if someone knew what books you took out of the library, but these TSA body scans are no big deal to them, I guess.
I guess that’s change they can believe in. Obama is still fighting a war in Afghanistan and implementing full body scan machines at airports. No cap and trade, no public option for health care, and now airplane security one might be tempted to call W-esque.
But the uproar of the American people against these scanners has been the story. If you refuse the scanner, you get the full body patdown, inspiring the new catchphrase “Don’t touch my junk.”
Not exactly “Give me liberty or give me death” but the sentiment is close.
But regardless, I think the TSA has missed a huge marketing opportunity here. Ever go on a roller coaster? People lining up for rows and rows. And as you’re rocketing at Mach 2, some brilliant marketer figured you’d be willing to pay a good chunk of bucks for a photo print of your wind-blown face careening past.
And people line up to buy them.
That’s my TSA suggestion. For a small capital investment, they could hook up photo printers to the body scan machines and sell people a copy of their scans.
People would buy them. Believe me – no one understands the ego of the American public like I do. Some often hint that I either invented it or redefined it. Either way, it’s there, and I think there are enough people in this country who would pay ten bucks for their body scan photo to make some serious change – that’s change I can believe in!
We could even upsell to frames. Maybe even print t-shirts. “They checked my boxers for bombs and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” with a print of the scan on the other side. That would bring in at least $25 a pop.
Let’s face it. The holiday shopping season is a bit drab this year. No cabbage patch kids or some other inane idea making people line up for miles. This could be the number one gift idea for 2010. Sure beats a pet rock…
See, that’s why we still have a budget deficit in this country. Too few people at high levels of government who understand the way ya make money today.
Make people go through a scanner, and you have a protest. Charge them to do it, and give them a momento, and you have a million-seller!
