E*Trade's Turnaround Plan: Two Super Bowl Ads (ETFC)

Every year, there's at least one Super Bowl advertiser whose spendthrift ways seem ill-advised. This year's nominee: E*Trade. The reeling online broker, which reported a $1.71 billion Q4 loss last week, has ponied up at least $4 million for two ads, according to the WSJ. That comes out of the $85 million the company said it has earmarked for spending on "growth initiatives" as part of its turnaround plan.

Just what is E*Trade going to say in its ads? In 2001, they had a dancing monkey and the tagline: "We just wasted $2 million. What are you doing with your money?" Last year, they showed traditional bank customers being looted by robbers in bunny masks. This year, we suggests they go with something along the lines of "Good news! We're no longer making calamitous bets on home mortgages!"

See Also: E*Trade: Better Disclosure, Needs More Cash
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