This is a story about loss and redemption. It is a story about strength in the face of adversity. It is a story about the American dream, and freedom, and the human condition. Mostly, though, it is a story about inflatable neck pillows.
Earlier this year, SkyMall—the much-loved and much-mocked catalog of cultural curiosities—filed for bankruptcy. The rise of Kindles and iPads and in-flight wifi, not to mention of eBay and Amazon, had proven too much, it seemed, for a brand that had built its reputation on bro-ssieres and Massage Mice. Obituaries were written; regrets were had; emergency orders of Garden Yetis were placed. The nation, as a whole, grieved. And, perhaps in tribute to the efficiencies that were the fundamental promise of the SkyMall experience, we skipped the denial and the anger and the bargaining and went straight for the depression and acceptance. We mourned, together, with the force of a thousand Solafeet Foot Tanners. We coped, as best we could, with our loss.
It turns out, though, that we shouldn't have skipped over the “denial” part of things so quickly. Because SkyMall was not dead—not then, and, fortunately for consumers, not now. SkyMall would not go gently. #BringBackSkyMall, the brand's Twitter feed hashtagged its tweets—a stream of which have been steadily flowing, news of the bankruptcy notwithstanding, since January.