E*Trade Financial Corporation today announced the Company will debut two thirty-second advertisements during Super Bowl XLII, a strategic investment that will gain the Company broad exposure to a captivated audience of financial services consumers. ... "With the boost in visibility from our Super Bowl advertisements ... we will demonstrate that we remain completely committed to our core retail business and to our customers," said Nicholas Utton, Chief Marketing Officer.Frankly, I'm appalled.
It used to be that blowing a significant amount of money on a Super Bowl ad was a sign of an up-and-coming company, and may young Internet firms launched themselves by betting on a single roll of the dice. E*Trade, however, is no young company - and instead of seeming bold, this move just seems desperate.
Said another way, the ship is sinking, and they've just spent a lot of time and money writing a new jingle. They really ought to be focusing their efforts on improving their capital structure (especially, escaping the burden of subprime loans that are weighing them down).
The fact that they're resorting to distraction tactics in a desperate attempt to remind us that they're still in business is a very bad sign. The fact that the don't realize that their investors will see right through this is even worse.
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