12/2/06

Capitalism at its finest :)

  • (traduction de ce site par google translator)

  • A while ago, I wrote about what I thought was one of the strength of the USA. Now let's see the other facet of the USA that makes the rest of the world go: "are you serious ???" This hilarious video was taken during the celebratory event after the merging of 2 banking giants: Bank of America and MBNA. After the usual speeches about how this merger will put them ahead of the competition in the "big bucks making" business, they asked 2 of their managers to sing a little song. Something that will mark this "historical" event and get everyone enthused about this new venture. The 2 gentlemen picked U2's "ONE", made a little change and the rest.... you will have to see for yourself.

    (via the lookmachine)
    On the unintentional humor scale, out of 10, this is an 8.5.
    The singer being so into the song, the cheesiness of the lyrics, the "I want to please my boss so much" factor and the cherry on the cake: the standing ovation at the end. Really, this was deserving of a standing ovation?
    I think Amrita will probably be punching walls in NY after watching this video. And in case, this video was not enough fun, here are the lyrics. (If you are wondering, I have an MBNA credit card that I would have thrown away after this if I did not have outstanding debt :-(. ) By the way, this song has been one of the most viewed videos on the web recently:

    "It is even better
    Now that we’re the same
    Two great companies come together
    Now, MBNA is B of A
    And it’s one bank
    One card
    One name that’s known all over the world
    One spirit
    We get to share it
    Leading us all to higher standards
    [....]
    We’re one with affinity
    And we’ll carry each other
    Carry each other
    One
    [...]
    And we’ve got Bank One on the run
    What’s in your wallet? It’s not Capital One
    It’s us, so which card are you?
    Integration’s never had us feeling so good
    And we’ll make lots of money, forever I can sing
    About trusting in teamwork and doing the right thing
    We’ll live out our core values
    While the competition crawls
    ‘cause they want what we have got
    But it’s only here at Bank of America
    One bank
    One card
    One name that’s known all over the world
    One heart , filled with spirit
    We feel it, we share it
    One bank working everyday
    To bring higher standards
    Higher standards
    One
    We are one, yeah
    We are one
    We are one bank
    [standing ovation]"
    Turning one of the greatest song in the world into the most ridiculous joke on the web: priceless. the NY Times tells us more about it.

    7 comments:

    1. Anonymous6:43 PM

      Thanks for the info. As a BoA customer, I was not very surprised about their choice . BoA has the tendency of being a little bit "arrogant" and "cocky". BoA thinks that everything is "OK" as long as it's done by BoA!!! Very expensive bank too! But, I love their "free" online service, that's why I have to stick with them. Sorry.

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    2. Hello McMalagasy,
      I did not know BoA was expensive. I think they are the one with the most ATMs in Chicago so I understand that many find them convenient. I am with you on online banking, it is my 1st criterion for choosing a bank. I have not written a check in 3 years :).

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    3. hey Jo,
      I hope you are having a great monday. It's -11 C here and I am so jealous that you are going home soon with sunshine & all :(.
      The worst part is that U2 is pushing so hard the whole RED project. ( you know for Xmas, buy RED products that finance the fight against poverty...) and those guys just murdered the song...:( Ah sweet irony. BTW MBNA is really the worse at crippling students with debt for life :(

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    4. Anonymous3:25 PM

      My eyes and ears were burning when I saw this ad a few weeks ago. How was this worthy of any appreciation i'll never know...!!

      You're right Lova...i felt like punching walls :P And yeah...if I didnt have outstanding MBNA debt...i'd have cancelled my credit card as well ;-)

      Oh well...

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    5. Hey Amrita,

      The idiocy of the celebration aside, the singer was actually on key :) which made the all thing even sadder :(. Me thinks Bono is laughing is ass off somewhere in Tanzania right now.

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    6. Anonymous4:28 PM

      That's the thing...the whole song was not a joke. If it was a joke...I would have laughed it off.

      Btw, have you seen Bono and Wyclef Jean's video for New Day? It's quite fun. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0xtjcZ67GM

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    7. :) priceless, "mama mama..." thank god Bono's duet got better with Blidge or Alicia Key. :) Actually, Wyclef is pretty good working with lady singers. It's just the 2 of them together..a tad odd but fun !

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