Above and Beyond, customer service, free, hakuna matata, productions, readers, shows, sweet...

The Lion King Sent All This Stuff To A Hospitalized Reader

http://consumerist.com/assets/resources/2008/04/Hakuna%20Matata-thumb.jpgclass=

Drew was diagnosed with cancer last month. His chemotherapy kept him from using the Lion King tickets he had given to his girlfriend for Valentine's Day, so he told her to go with one of her friends. After the show, she stopped by the management office to ask if they had anything she could bring to Drew in the hospital. Though they had nothing on hand, they promised to send him "something special." A few days later, DHL showed up with up with all this free stuff and a nice personalized note.

Drew write:

Hey guys!

I really enjoy your site and always love to see articles about companies going the extra mile. I thought y'all would enjoy this.

Background: I'm 24 and in law school. I was cruising through life when about a month ago I was diagnosed with cancer (pre-b cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma). This has definitely put a kink in things but the outlook looks good!

For Valentine's Day this year, I bought tickets for Laura Beth (the girlfriend) and I to go to The Lion King when it came to Atlanta in April. On the day of the show, April 5th, I had been on chemo for three days and there was no way I was going to make the show. I tell her to take one of her girlfriends and they love the show, of course (it is pretty spectacular). On the way out Laura Beth stops by the show's management office to see if they have anything special that they could give her to bring me in the hospital. She tells her story about how her boyfriend bought the tickets for Valentines Day but now has cancer and is in the hospital and missed the show to these three girls who were described as "young and just married." They said they didn't have anything on hand but promised Laura Beth they would do something special.

Fast forward to this morning when DHL pulls up with a package. Inside is a Lion King coffee mug, sippy cup, t-shirt and note from someone at the production company. Pretty cool, huh?

Aw, that sure is sweet. Great work, Lion King!

6:03 PM on Sun Apr 20 2008
By Carey
17,469 views
44 comments

Comments

Trai_Dep at 06:21 PM on 04/20/08
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That's simply awesome.
BugMeNot2 at 06:40 PM on 04/20/08
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Nice.
ophmarketing at 06:44 PM on 04/20/08
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Very cool. Nice to hear a story about the good guys every now and then.
radleyas at 06:45 PM on 04/20/08
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Aww. That's awfully sweet of them. That made me feel good!
Copper at 06:48 PM on 04/20/08
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Very nice. Sorry to hear about your health, good luck.
Charity Froggenhall at 06:57 PM on 04/20/08
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Wow, how nice of them, and way to go to the proverbial Above & Beyond! Good luck, Drew!
TheRealAbsurdist at 06:59 PM on 04/20/08
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Right on. I can't stomach Disney or any of their products. But this was definitely above and beyond.

You really need to post their names/email addresses to we can carpet bomb their management with what exemplary employees they have. And how they deserve a raise. ;)

I'm glad the outlook is good. We're all pulling for you.
MartyF81 at 07:02 PM on 04/20/08
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Nice Job Lion King... It is good to see there are some nice people out there still....
FrankTownend at 07:27 PM on 04/20/08
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It is nice that a Lion's roar can be felt as a kiss. All the best to you Drew.
MonkeySeeMonkeyDo at 07:27 PM on 04/20/08
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Very nice.
humphrmi at 07:34 PM on 04/20/08
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When the Disney machine is firing on all cylinders, it works very well. Good job.
castlecraver at 07:48 PM on 04/20/08
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As someone of similar youth, it's truly, truly chilling when I read of someone getting cancer in their 20's. Best of luck to you!
randombob at 07:49 PM on 04/20/08
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Yeah this is cool. The only thing that bugs me is that there's always so few comments for the good guys...

I wish there was a better way to say "you guys rock." I'm not a customer and I too hate Disney Productions, but the ideals behind this maneuver are real stand-up, and should be applauded still!
pinkpuppet at 08:07 PM on 04/20/08
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Aww, it's good to hear of a company going the extra mile for a fan.
DeltaPurser at 08:10 PM on 04/20/08
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Didn't cost them that much, and look at the impact it had on not only the poster, but everybody who reads/hears the story... Way to go!
spinachdip at 08:11 PM on 04/20/08
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@randombob: "The only thing that bugs me is that there's always so few comments for the good guys..."

That could just be because there's not much to debate when a company's does an obviously good thing, besides "Tastes great!" and "Less filling!" Plus, there's no victim to blame.
Buran at 08:17 PM on 04/20/08
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Connectedness Index: 220

I like that shirt. How's the quality? I might have to find out where to get one.
PatrickIs2Smart at 08:21 PM on 04/20/08
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@Buran: You like the shirt, I like memo... MSWord templates FTW!
lesbiansayswhat at 08:39 PM on 04/20/08
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Connectedness Index: 143

Wow, humans! Working for corporations!
mgy at 08:40 PM on 04/20/08
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Connectedness Index: 33

Ewww, it's one of those ridged straws. I can't get the sound of that thing moving up and down in the cup out of my head. Arararagsdgasdhha
godawgs7 at 09:10 PM on 04/20/08
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Hey guys! It's Drew and I wanted to say thanks for all of the well wishes! We are optimistic about the future and there's no slowing down in sight.

The journey has just begun but for those who want to follow along, I've been blogging about my adventure at [blog.the-gandys.com.]
godawgs7 at 09:11 PM on 04/20/08
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I don't know where that extra period came from. Of course I would mess up the address somehow.

[blog.the-gandys.com]
prateeko at 09:51 PM on 04/20/08
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Nice to hear people caring and doing something nice when they had no obligation to do so.
teahead215 at 10:24 PM on 04/20/08
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Way to go Lion King. Nucking futs! Your the best!
ivanthemute at 10:26 PM on 04/20/08
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Kudos to Broadway Across America. That's freakin' awesome!
azntg at 11:07 PM on 04/20/08
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Now that's a nice gesture! Well thought out and nice job to y'all in the crew of the Lion King.

Get well Drew!
flipx at 11:11 PM on 04/20/08
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Good to hear that the out look is on the up side. RIGHT ON Lion King staff hats of to ya!
Neecy at 11:27 PM on 04/20/08
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Now THAT is what I call going the extra mile!! Props to them!
ironchef at 12:13 AM on 04/21/08
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wonderful to see good karma working its magic. Bravo Lion King!!!
cyborg5001 at 12:27 AM on 04/21/08
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It's nice to see that a company can go out of its way to make a sick guy happy. And it cost them next to nothing. Sure they sell the stuff they gave him for $10-30 each, but it cost them maybe $5 plus shipping and made a real big fan. Maybe some other companies should take the hint, and eventually earn some good word of mouth.
nursethalia at 12:28 AM on 04/21/08
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That's so sweet of them :) I'm glad the prognosis looks good, too!
elf6c at 09:59 AM on 04/21/08
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Woot!
pandroid at 10:02 AM on 04/21/08
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That was really great of them. Thanks for posting a positive story.
ElizabethD at 10:08 AM on 04/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 16

Get well, Drew. You're in my prayers.

And: a big roar of approval to the Lion King peeps.
ooolam at 10:19 AM on 04/21/08
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Good luck, Drew! Hope you will get well soon and come to NYC to see the Lion King with your girlfriend : )
Fist-o at 10:27 AM on 04/21/08
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Get well soon, dude!

Consumerist: Kudos for having a happy story once in a while! Hmm, supposed we had a "GNOTD" category? Good news of the day; outlining at least once per day, some GOOD thing that happens with some company like this!
picardia at 10:29 AM on 04/21/08
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Connectedness Index: 0

This sort of thing is always awesome to hear. When a friend of mine was fighting cancer a few years ago, word got passed through acquaintance to acquaintance to reach J.J. Abrams, who created her favorite show ever, "Alias." The guy sent her a personalized letter wishing her well and an iPod loaded with a playlist that the music guys from the show had put together for cast and crew. You can imagine how delighted she was. I thought that was tremendously classy. FYI, she has recovered and is doing great.
evilmregg at 10:49 AM on 04/21/08
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Very classy. I love reading stories like this amongst the myriad stories of shitty, apathetic corporations.
DXDawg at 11:44 AM on 04/21/08
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@godawgs7:

Great story... and best of luck to you and your family from the rest of Dawg Nation.
NeverEnough at 11:45 AM on 04/21/08
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How utterly lovely. And I hope you kick cancer right in the ass.
trujunglist at 07:00 PM on 04/21/08
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Sweet, way to go Lion King staff!
KarmaChameleon at 07:38 PM on 04/21/08
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I'm really impressed with the Lion King staff. I remember them donating stuff from the theater for a drama geek kid's room on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (shut up, I'm a sucker for tear jerkers). They seem like really nice people.

(And Drew, you're in my prayers. Best to you and your family.)
Lambasted at 09:55 AM on 04/22/08
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Bravo to the Lion King!!! I've seen the show on Broadway and it's spectacular.

Companies out there who seem to take glee in screwing over their consumer base (hello Comcast and Microsoft) should take note that there are better ways to run a business.
riverstyxxx at 07:07 PM on 04/23/08
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That was incredibly nice of them, best of luck in your recovery. I'll pray for you!