Do You Recline or Not Recline?

TalentZoo.com | Flack Me | Digital Pivot | Beneath the Brand

Archives | Categories

By: Cindy Wendland

Knee Defender has been getting publicity from being used on an airplane to prevent the seat in front from reclining. The two passengers had an exchange of words, then some water in the face, then the United flight diverted and both passengers removed from the flight. The company that makes the clips called the Knee Defender that kept the seat from reclining had a 500-times surge in website traffic once the story hit the airwaves. What is that old saying? Any publicity is good publicity.

At a young age, we taught our children about personal space, and we called it “your bubble.” We taught our children that it was polite to respect the bubble around another person and not invade it. On an airplane, it is difficult to have personal space due to the closeness of the seats next to you and the ones in front of you. When a person reclines their airline seat, it reduces your personal space and makes it difficult to use your tray table or work on your laptop or have space for your knees. Knee Defender was invented to solve these problems.

There are some people who feel it is rude to recline your seat unless it is an overnight flight. There are some people who feel it is their right to recline their seat. Who is right and who is wrong? It doesn’t matter. Knee Defender capitalizes on the opportunity. It may not be a long-term product, because airlines won’t tolerate their flights being interrupted, but in the short term Knee Defender will have a nice year. Hopefully they will find a new application for their product for the long term.

blog comments powered by Disqus

About the Author

Cindy Wendland has a background in marketing and finance. She is the creative director for an online men's health magazine, BrainBrawnBody.com, and she gets to write their leisure/travel blog. She is also a web designer helping her clients with online community engagement, websitesbywendland.com. Prior to her web years, she worked in pharmacy consulting.

Beyond Madison Avenue on