At first I thought these ads were just silly. But then I realized how smart—and destructive—they were.

It occurred to me that Shuttle Express must have smartly commissioned some sort of marketing survey, maybe questionnaires for people arriving at the airport, or maybe annoying home telemarketing phone calls. The result of this likely survey: the company discovered that the main competition for its paid rides to the airport is—you guessed it—friends taking friends to the airport. So here’s lesson one of this story: don’t respond to marketing questionnaires, because the information you give may later be used against you. [By the way, the Free Press has never done a marketing survey of its readers and vows never to. Another reason to subscribe!—ed]

I tried calling Shuttle Express to verify this information. I left a message but never got a call back. Anyway, the exact scenario of the marketing study is not terribly important, because I still haven’t told you about the destructive part.

It occurred to me later just how reckless this ad campaign is—whether Shuttle Express knows it or not. When their ads aim to shame the public out of asking friends for a ride to the airport, what is the obvious implication? The obvious implication is that you shouldn’t ask your friends for any help at all.

Really now, giving someone a ride to the airport and dropping them off at the departures lane is one of the easiest and least time-consuming ways to help a friend. Besides, you can enjoy the ride by talking with your buddy and wishing him or her a good trip. And what goes around comes around. Your friend can help you with this or other matters later. Lesson two: ask your friends for help, because that’s what friends are for. If people are afraid to ask friends for minor favors, then what exactly is a “friend” anyway? At best, someone who could give you a minor pep talk from time to time.

What Shuttle Express is doing here is coming between friends, and making people just a bit more afraid of even being true friends. Many people will see this ploy for the marketing gimmick that it is, but the sad fact is that many people in the US are pretty isolated, alone, and have little contact with any critique of such commercialism. These people will become yet more isolated and potentially psychologically ill as a result of this and other destructive ad campaigns. Such ads are the psychological equivalent of toxic waste dumping by industrial corporations. What is good for one company can often be bad for society at large. Wouldn’t Shuttle Express serve the public and themselves better by investing money in, say, better fuel efficiency for their vans, rather than spending it on toxic advertisement?

Lesson three: a better slogan. “Friends call Shuttle Express and tell them how bad their ad is.” You might also mention that you will be more than happy to ask friends for a ride to the airport whenever possible. You can dial 425-981-7050 or 425-981-7000x3. You can also call and complain to radio station “Warm 106.9” (425-373-5545) or other stations that you hear such an ad on.