BrandSnark: Good Week/Bad Week for the Big Brands

Good Week: Airlines – Typically a monument to self-inflicted brand damage, the airline industry has a rare reason to celebrate as a newly released U.S. Department of Transportation study finds flight cancellations in 2016 at 1.17%, the lowest in the 22 years DOT’s been tracking such data. Other areas of improvement over 2015 included fewer mishandled bags, late arrivals and traveler complaints. C’mon fellow travelers: we can do better in 2017!

Bad Week: Mazda Here’s a new one. More than 170,000 cars are being recalled in the U.S. due to faulty seats that can “change angles abruptly, making them difficult to drive,” according to a Mazda statement. Zoom Zoom Boom!

Worse Week: BritaxThe popular “baby gear” manufacturer is recalling more than 700,000 strollers that present a fall hazard when paired with a car-seat carrier. Can’t make this up: Britax’s full corporate name is “Britax Child Safety, Inc.”