The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Spirit Airlines. They get the award for the following.

Act fast and you too can cash in on the "MILF" promotion.

The fire sale by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines promises "Many Islands, Low Fares" deals as low as $9 for future travel dates between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas.

While the prices may be right, it's that promotional acronym that's raised eyebrows among customers and now has the company feeling "uncomfortable."

Before MILF became shorthand for a Spirit Airlines promotion, the acronym hit the mainstream as an obscene descriptor of a mother considered to be sexy.

The term was popularized in the raunchy 1999 feature film "American Pie," in which Jennifer Coolidge plays Stifler's Mom, an attractive, voluptuous woman who ultimately seduces a high school adversary of her son Steve, played by Seann William Scott.


In 2003, the band Fountains of Wayne released the song "Stacy's Mom," which ultimately peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard charts and became the No. 1 most downloaded song for iTunes. The song and accompanying video, which features an adolescent boy fantasizing about his mother's friend, rose to No. 1 on MTV's "TRL."

It's impossible to know exactly what percentage of Americans are familiar with the slang acronym, but Spirit Airlines maintains that the executive who authorized the MILF promotion did not know the connection.

"Not at all," Juan Arbelaez, the director of communications for the company's Latin American market, told ABC News when asked whether the airline was aware of the racy implications. "We started receiving some e-mails today."

Arbelaez said that Spirit's senior vice president of pricing is a British citizen who was unfamiliar with the MILF terminology and that the airline is not trying to offend customers.

I don't believe Spirit did anything intentional, but a screwup is a screwup. A US centered based using a British citizen to help write an ad campaign, could think it wise to have someone familiar with US slang, sayings, etc reading things to avoid episodes like this.

What does MILF stand for- Mother I like to f***. Pretty offensive, huh? Note this isn't the first dumb promo Spirit came up with. Last year it was 'Hunt for Hoffa', labeled#8 on CNN Money's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.

The airline has a notorious record for customer service. Just google search the words 'Spirit Airlines sucks' and you'll know what I mean. Now Spirit Airlines will get another distinction, they are today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Rick at SOTP is also discussing this news.
Linked to- Adam, Leaning Straight Up, Morewhat, Populist, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Rosemary, The World According to Carl, Yankee Sailor,