Sometimes, a lot of times, I get press releases that are immediately deleted. This was funny enough to post in its entirety. My vote is for Ticketmonster.

The Worst Company in America

Bank of America, Comcast, Ticketmaster and AIG make

The Consumerist’s “Final Four”

New York , NY (May 4, 2009): It’s the bailouts versus the monopolies! “The Worst Company in
America ,” the annual 32-company battle royale from The Consumerist (
www.consumerist.com) has whittled itself down to the “final four”: Bank of America, Comcast, Ticketmaster and AIG. One of these disastrous companies will go on to join Halliburton (2006), RIAA (2007) and Countrywide (2008) as “The Worst Company in
America .”

AIG and Ticketmaster face-off May 4 ^th, Bank of America and Comcast face-off May 5 ^th, the victors of those contests meet May 6 ^th, and then the “winner” is announced May 7 ^th.

The competition began with 32 companies separated into four brackets. Companies competed in head-to-head match ups and the winner of each match up was determined by the vote of Consumerist readers. The 32 companies included: AIG, Target, Peanut Corp of America, American Express, Walmart, HP, T-Mobile, Best Buy, Ticketmaster, TWC, Apple, United HealthCare, Verizon, Sprint, Home Depot, Citibank, Comcast,
DirecTV, US Airways, Capital One, General Motors, United Airlines, Sears, Chase, eBay/Paypal, GE, Dell, Chrysler, AT&T, Circuit City , Starbucks, and Bank of America.

“AIG and Bank of America paved their way to the final four with exorbitant executive compensation packages, reckless management, and tax payer bailouts. Ticketmaster and Comcast drew the ire of voters because they were viewed as monopolies that consumers were forced to deal with,” said Meghann Marco, Consumerist.com.

A leading online resource for consumer-driven advice about dealing with everything from non-existent customer service to onerous cell-phone contracts to ever-shrinking (and ever-more-expensive) grocery products, The Consumerist is published by Consumer Media LLC, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Consumers Union, and takes no outside advertising. The Consumerist is the 38th most popular blog in the world, as measured by Technorati, a site that tracks blogs and other social media.

About Consumer Media LLC

The Consumerist's parent company, Consumer Media LLC, is a subsidiary of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports , and
ConsumerReports.org, and is the nation's leading not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization. Since its founding in 1936, Consumers Union has fought for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To maintain independence and impartiality, CU accepts neither outside advertising nor free samples. It employs a staff of "mystery shoppers" who buy products in retail stores around the country, just as any other buyer would, and then ship them to the Consumers Union labs, where technical experts test some 3,000 products yearly.

To further advance its mission, CU employs a dedicated team of grassroots organizers, advocates and outreach specialists who work with the organization's more than 600,000 online activists to change legislation and the marketplace in favor of the consumer interest. Consumers Union is also the leading publisher of information to help consumers choose the right products, stay safe, and protect themselves against unfair business practices. In addition to The Consumerist and Consumer Reports , CU's publications include ConsumerReportsHealth.org, ConsumerReportsEnEspanol.org, ShopSmart magazine, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser . CU's publications have received many major awards, including multiple National Magazine Awards, several Webby Awards and numerous awards for public-interest and health-care reporting.