# United Breaks Guitars

> Dave Carroll’s airline complaint video drew 4.6 million YouTube views by the end of July.

- Owner: Dave Carroll / Sons of Maxwell; United Airlines was the subject
- Kind: Music
- Sector: Auto & mobility
- Seed date: 2009-07-06
- Peak proxy date: 2009-07-10
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 65 (Viral, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Underdog, Maker origin, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

Carroll posted a song about his damaged guitar after United rejected his claim. Friends, blogs and broadcasters carried it beyond YouTube. United offered compensation and donated to a music school; Taylor offered a replacement and repair help.

## Timeline

- 2009-07-06 — Dave Carroll / sonsofmaxwell (YouTube) — Carroll posted the first United Breaks Guitars music video.
- 2009-07-07 — Los Angeles Times (Press) — The Los Angeles Times covered the song and United’s response.
- 2009-07-07 — Carroll’s friends / United Airlines (X) — Friends shared the video on Twitter, where United said it had contacted Carroll to make things right.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/united-breaks-guitars

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “United Breaks Guitars.” Case HIS-01608. Spread Score v1.3: 65/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01608