Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Dunce Cap Award: Alec Baldwin

The New York tabloids are having a field day this morning with the report that actor Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) got himself removed from an American Airlines flight bound for New York from Los Angeles. His crime? He was too involved in a word game on his iPad to follow instructions, and when confronted about it, raised a stink.

American's slogan used to be, "Something special in the air", back in the day. Today, the airline is in the midst of a bankruptcy filing, and the last thing they needed was someone like Baldwin, who has a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, given his history of hostile, off-screen behavior, putting them on the front page.

Until this story broke online last night, I'd never heard of the game, "Words With Friends", or its maker, Zynga, which has to be happy for the free publicity, to be sure. With 2 1/2 weeks to go before Christmas, the most positive thing that Baldwin has done is put "Words With Friends" out there so that average folks can put it on their computers or iPads or iPhones. Just as long as they don't repeat his mistake and ignore airline rules about shutting down electronic devices whilst the plane is parked. That ignorance gets Baldwin, who is also one of three celebrity endorsers for Capital One Bank (along with Jimmy Fallon & Jerry Stiller), a Dunce Cap, because he shouldn't also have tried to use his star status to try to avoid disciplinary action.

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