RIAA: Worst Company in America 2007
After 15 punishing rounds of combat involving 32 of America’s most hated companies, 100,000 voters have spoken: More hated than Halliburton, more despised than Walmart, the RIAA has defeated all-comers to become the Worst Company in America 2007.
Back in January 2007, The Consumerist began its process to discover exactly who is America’s Worst Company. In addition to the RIAA entry, other companies in the competition included McDonalds, Sony, Walmart, Microsoft, Bank of America, Best Buy, Comcast, Exxon, and last year’s winner, Halliburton.
In its first bout the RIAA took on United Airlines and emerged victorious and in its second beat rival U-Haul, paving its way to the final stages where it faced the mighty wrath of Halliburton, Exxon and Walmart.
As Halliburton took out Walmart with an impressive 69.6% of the vote, the RIAA had to square up to Exxon – and it won, taking 65.7% of the vote, nearly double that of its rival.
Then came the final, dubbed The Final DeathMatch
The Consumerist ranted “RIAA and Halliburton advance to the final round for a fight to the death. Who will emerge “Worst Company in America 2007?” Only one can survive! It will probably be the RIAA!”
And it was! The RIAA collected 53.8% of the vote beating last years winner Halliburton.
The Consumerist felt that the vote sent a clear message: “The internet cares deeply about being able to download music illegally”. Considering the extortionate costs associated with hiring a lawyer, maybe Americans just don’t like being sued.
