The viral video of Bank of America employees singing a variation of U2's "One" seems like a scene straight out of NBC's sitcom "The Office." Unfortunately, it is not a joke, but rather a serious attempt at morale boosting to commemorate B of A's purchase of MBNA.
Of course, the attorneys at Universal Music, who manage the copyright of U2's songs, were not laughing. After perhaps first vomiting in their mouths, they immediately drew up a cease-and-desist order marking the first time music lovers across the Internet supported a copyright infringement case.
While the record industry has been quick to alienate its audience by suing anyone who may have illegally downloaded a song from the Internet, the Bank of America case is far more egregious because it hurts your ears. The U2 song from the "Achtung Baby" album, was used as the basis for a celebration of last year's Bank of America $3.5 billion purchase of MBNA with such wonderful lyrics as:
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
It maybe hard to believe, but the lyrics actually get worse following the chorus. It's like a car wreck, once you look you may be compelled to look away, but you can't.
The whole affair seems as if the bankers at B of A were watching "The Office" and thought it was a corporate training video when they came up with this abomination of a song. Afer all, Steve Carrell's hapless executive Michael Scott has been known to insert U2's "With or Without You" into PowerPoint presentations.
So what's the likely outcome of this bizarre event? The Bank of America Red Card. Both companies can save face with the public by Bank of America agreeing to join Bono's AIDS charity. Bono has signed a raft of companies to support the charity including Apple, Gap and Motorola. Unfortunately, American Express already offers a Red Card as part of the charity. However, there is no Red Debit Card yet, so the solution remains viable.
No word on what song B of A will butcher next year to commemorate its latest acquisition, the $3.3 billion purchase of U.S. Trust Corp. from Charles Schwab Corp. —Matthew Wurtzel
By Edward Schneidman, Michael Blair and David Malinger, Mayer Brown
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