A travel company, thinking that it will be back in business soon, printed out brochures to mail to its customers with what it hopes will be future trips.

However, the only mention of the pandemic and the events of the past year was a small paragraph buried in a corner stating that procedures were changeable based on CDC rules and regulations.

Nowhere in the brochure did it mention what the travel company was doing to keep its customers (and staff) safe and healthy. Nothing.

Even small retail shops and restaurants have been writing up marketing materials to let customers know every little thing they have been doing in the interests of the health and safety of its customers.

But not this travel company. Travel – which inherently puts groups of people together in close quarters for quite a bit of time – didn’t seem to warrant extra words from the company to its customers declaring its commitment to keeping them safe.  

As if the only important thing was following the least number of protocols set by government officials. As if it wasn’t a highly infectious disease with a high mortality rate. As if those government protocols weren’t for a good reason. Nothing was written in the brochure about what they are doing to keep people alive. It was completely out of touch with no concern for customers. The company was not only refusing to deal with the elephant in the room. And also, nothing was written regarding travel restrictions or how to get a visa when borders are closed. Travel is complicated right now. Nothing in these marketing materials acknowledged that. These are unusual times and organizations need to recognize that.

Shocking though, that the company, a travel company, is gaslighting its customers by pretending that the pandemic never happened and isn’t still a problem globally.

This isn’t a way to win customer loyalty. Customer loyalty cannot survive if customers don’t think you care. And this company is showing its customers how little it cares.