Photo: CBC News
Having your own private parking space waiting for you at your destination isn't something a lot of people can brag about, but it is a service offered to people with disabilities to make their lives easier.
It's not much, but it's the least we as a society can do. It's not like we need to give anything up for that - we just have to take a few more steps than we would if those parking bays were open for everybody and we actually were lucky enough to find one free.
More recently, electric car owners have started enjoying the same benefits with EV-only parking/charging spots occupying enviable positions inside the public parking lots. However, having them clearly marked doesn't seem enough to stop some people from parking their very non-electric vehicles there once in a while.
Well, Lexus went one up and did that with the disabled parking bays at the Calgary International Airport in an attempted marketing campaign. The airport management covered said spaces in white paint with the Lexus logo in the middle and branded them as "reserved parking for Lexus vehicles."
In the Japanese luxury carmaker's defense, it has to be said it might not have been aware of all the details of the arrangement. According to CBC News, the final decision on which stalls to be converted lied with the airport, which led to the release of an apologetic statement. As well as the acquisition of a few buckets of blue paint, we would assume.
“YYC Calgary International Airport would like to apologize to our passengers impacted by the decision to change the location of the accessible parking stalls at the airport; it is clearly out of touch with our commitment to being an accessible facility,” the statement read. “The Calgary Airport Authority would also like to apologize to Lexus Canada.”
“For clarity, The Calgary Airport Authority was solely responsible for the selection of the stalls identified for the parking campaign. Lexus Canada did not play a role in selecting, and was not aware of, the locations for the campaign.”
There's no doubt this was a massive blunder, but the airport does deserve credit for how it handled the situation once the cat was out of the bag and for taking full responsibility, doing its best to remove any mud that might have gone Lexus' way.
Even though the lesson has been learned, it's safe to assume it will be some time until any of the two parties involved tries a similar stunt again. Which is all the better because the last we want to see is the floods of brand-specific parking spaces open.
More recently, electric car owners have started enjoying the same benefits with EV-only parking/charging spots occupying enviable positions inside the public parking lots. However, having them clearly marked doesn't seem enough to stop some people from parking their very non-electric vehicles there once in a while.
Well, Lexus went one up and did that with the disabled parking bays at the Calgary International Airport in an attempted marketing campaign. The airport management covered said spaces in white paint with the Lexus logo in the middle and branded them as "reserved parking for Lexus vehicles."
In the Japanese luxury carmaker's defense, it has to be said it might not have been aware of all the details of the arrangement. According to CBC News, the final decision on which stalls to be converted lied with the airport, which led to the release of an apologetic statement. As well as the acquisition of a few buckets of blue paint, we would assume.
“YYC Calgary International Airport would like to apologize to our passengers impacted by the decision to change the location of the accessible parking stalls at the airport; it is clearly out of touch with our commitment to being an accessible facility,” the statement read. “The Calgary Airport Authority would also like to apologize to Lexus Canada.”
“For clarity, The Calgary Airport Authority was solely responsible for the selection of the stalls identified for the parking campaign. Lexus Canada did not play a role in selecting, and was not aware of, the locations for the campaign.”
There's no doubt this was a massive blunder, but the airport does deserve credit for how it handled the situation once the cat was out of the bag and for taking full responsibility, doing its best to remove any mud that might have gone Lexus' way.
Even though the lesson has been learned, it's safe to assume it will be some time until any of the two parties involved tries a similar stunt again. Which is all the better because the last we want to see is the floods of brand-specific parking spaces open.
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