'Spokesjerk' Revolution Fails To Materialize: FreeCreditReport.com Front Man Sticks To His Guns

Andy Cobb starred in TV commercials pitching health insurance for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida -- until he had a crisis of conscience.

"In some gigs, in rare cases, you're forced to come to terms with the moral content of your commercial," he told the Huffington Post. To disassociate himself from what he now calls "the worst product in American history," Cobb wrote and starred in a short video renouncing his former employer (see below).

He also asked other pitchmen to do the same.

"It's time for change," says Cobb in the video. "That's why I'm calling on leaders of the spokesjerk industry: the FreeCreditReport.com guy, the ShamWow dude, and Senator [Ben] Nelson, recipient of big money from insurance companies, to lead us, to walk away from their cash cows and tell the American people the truth."

The Huffington Post reached out to credit-report peddler Eric Violette, star of the famous commercials airing non-stop on cable television. Violette refused to comment on Cobb's call for a spokesjerk revolution. But in an email, he had this to say:

"Does this guy really equate health insurance with cleaning cloths and credit ratings? When making the decision about health care in the US, I hope the public will see that having access to health care is much more important than cloths and credit scores."

Yes, but what about the epic dishonesty of Violette's vids, whose makers have been repeatedly sanctioned by the government for false advertising? The free credit report offered simply isn't free -- you get the report after signing up for a $14.95 monthly service. Experian, the credit bureau that owns freecreditreport.com, profits in hard times from people worried about identity theft and their credit score.

The New York Times reported last week that 9 million people are spending a total of $650 million to $700 million a year for credit reporting services, with Experian making more than twice its three biggest competitors combined.

Story continues below

advertisement

The Federal Trade Commission, whose more than $1 million in sanctions have utterly failed to stop the ads, has been so exasperated that it even made its own parody video.

The credit card reform bill signed into law by the president will curb the ads by requiring them to include the following statement: "This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law."

The truly free credit report is available at www.annualcreditreport.com.

ShamWow huckster Vince Shlomi could not be reached. Didn't seem to be much point in calling Sen. Ben Nelson's office. The Nebraska Democrat made the list because Cobb sees him obstructing health reform.

Cobb said he had his change of heart this year after participating in fundraisers for friends who went bankrupt and broke because they got sick -- even though they had insurance from Blue Cross.

Violette, for his part, is from Canada, where health insurance and credit reports are less of a problem.

Check out Cobb's video, which was produced by Robert Greenwald's BraveNewFilms as part of its Sick for Profit series:

Here are some of those catchy credit spots -- you've got to give Violette credit for being an appealing pitchman:

Here's the FTC's parody:

Comments

[seawolf77]

He must be a republican. Those guys could defend Kalih Sheik Mohammed waterboarding Mother Theresa for helping the poor.

[BadgersBite]

It's difficult to get someone to disagree when their entire paycheck depends on them not disagreeing.

[iVote2]

Why should they stop when so many media outlets are willing to accept their advertising dollars no matter what?? Case in point, the following ad is in the upper right-hand corner of the HuffPost page containing this article: FreeCredit­Report.com A Good Credit Score = 700 or Above. See Yours in 2 Easy Steps for $0! Seems kind of hypocritical to me...

[PlayTOE]

Time for the USA to enact a copy of Canada's "truth in advertising" law.

[Niqueth]

I ha te those free credit report dot com commercials. So f-ing annoying!!!

[Sorokchitiri]

There are few comercials where I HAVE to mute them or change the channel. Those things are among those I can not stand. And the worst part is the songs get stuck in my head!

[PaiaGirl]

I so agree. I immediately change the channel because the sound is so F'ing annoying.

[mairs]

Why would he renounce his steady paycheck and nationwide exposure?

[JohnStuartMill]

ignominy

[WaveringLiberal]

A product was offered, and people bought it.
Why does the left always assume everyone's been duped? Freud would likely have a thought on that.

[mairs]

The Federal Trade Commission are libs? And their more than $1 million in sanctions against the company is lib propaganda?

[mairs]

Freud would like this:

'The credit card reform bill signed into law by the president will curb the ads by requiring them to include the following statement: "This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law."'

[Vetinari]

A product was offered for free, but came with a $15 monthyl fee that is apparently really hard to get away from.

Thats duping...

[BurgessPenguin]

"Fraud" is another word for it.

[nhop]

About a year ago I accessed freecredit­report.cxx­. A day later I found a $14.95 charge on my AmEx card. I immediately disputed it and later that same day it was removed.

[alieninvader]

Yeah, the right assumes that only consumers, the poor and unemployed are capable of fraud.

[joetherealist]

A product was offerd for one price (free), and people were defrauded into buying a different product that cost $15 per month. Hard to understand? By the way, how did you type that comment with your gun in one hand and your bible in the other?

[baba2nde]

FTC, "whose more than $1 million in sanctions have utterly failed to stop the ads, has been so exasperated ... "

Why would FTC be exasperated? Sanction the outfit all the way to bankruptcy and use the money to pay down the national debt.

And if sane people think "free" means $14.95 MONTHLY, more power to them.

[funkyuncle]

The FreeCredit­Report.com commercial, like most commercials, flat out lie about their product or service. There are the male enhancement commercials that not only make you larger but improve you love-making skills. There is the auto manufacturer telling you if you aren't satisfied with your purchase you can return it, but try and you run into a myriad of stipulations they don't tell you about in the ad. There is the sympathetic health insurance carrier telling you they will be there for you when you need them, but need them and you suddenly find out they aren't so sympathetic. No one tries to sell you a good product for a good price, one that gives the seller a decent return while not overly taxing the consumer's wallet.
Our whole society, not just commercials, is based on a layers of lies, half-truths and distortions. From health care providers to politicians to your employer to religious leaders, they use carefully crafted and devious messages to make you believe their product or service or spiel is the bomb. Until a good product can be sold for an honest price, a good service is offered for a reasonable charge, a sermon is delivered with the caveat that it is based on belief not actual proof, or a speech filled with promises that will be kept, our society will always have spokesjerks, preacherjerks and politicianjerks. Until we stand up and say no more lies, then we get what we deserve.

[confuseddemocrat]

I agree with you 100%

I believe that there needs to be more oversight with these ads...by either the FTC or FDA (for the ads claiming to act on the male's physiology)

Among the most egregious are the ones by Big Pharma which encourage the mentally/ cognitive ill to self diagnose and to consider using a particular med or even adding it to their existing regimen

it is obvious that these ads are preying on those most likely to suffer from impaired decision-making just to force them into taking more medications than may be necessary

[ilpostino]

The word "Free!" is the most misused 4-letter word in American advertising?
Why?
Because it works. People want something for nothing, they want a *free* lunch, breakfast, dinner, whatever. And when they end up paying for it, they are usually too embarrassed to do anything about the false advertising.

[MJinCanada]

Even here in Canada, I avoid most of the products advertised on TV, just because the ads insult my intelligence or promote selfish or rude behaviour.

[NoMoreBail2]

There wont be any positive change for middle and lower class form the Obammi administration. Expect more of the same BS that was 2002-2007. More bonuses for wall street, surging stock market, booming economy, widening wealth gap, surging gas, surging food, unfordable education & health care & surging oil prices, continuation of Iraq/Afghanistan wars, and high unemployment.

hat tip to; http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

[Alexandre Laudet]

I cannot believe that the commercials for freecredit­report.com have been allowed to go on for so long. The first time i saw it - it was catchy and in principle a great idea to encourage people to monitor their credit- I looked at the website and emailed several financial publications and cable shows asking whether the ad was legal since the real free credit report website is https://www.annualcreditreport.com
This is yet another example of greedy businesses capitalizing on consumers;' vulnerability. There are others, including a series of TV ads I have seen that are made to look like a a breaking news story - cnbc or cnn type format- announcing that the government has just announced it is offering excessively favorable terms to home buyers. I don't know who monitors advertising but who ever it is has to do a better job. It's one thing to sell a not so absorbent shamwow, it's another one to prey on vulnerable consumers who are trying to get a grip on their finances - I say 'vulnerable' because presumable any financially savvy person will recognize the scam or have a a financial person who will.

[Harrier]

The bottom line is it's not free and it's false advertising. He will be out of business soon, but will still pocket more money while fighting it. He will start up again under a new name after declaring bankruptcy.

[swingstatedem]

Thank god this guy stopped shilling for BCBS and ended the insurance industry's deathgrip on our country. What would we have done without him?

[Benttail]

Oh no, the insurance industry's death grip is upon us ! ! !! Run for the hills! ! ! Mommie, mommie help me......

[SteveDenver]

Violette is cute, talented, cute, and I enjoy his pitches -- although I navigated away from FreeCredit­Report.com when I realized it wasn't "free." People are stupid for shelling out money for something that is legally free. Why hasn't there been a lawsuit from a state attorney regarding fraud?

As for "ShamWow," it only underscores people's desire to be duped. I looked these things up on epinions.com and it took only 2 minutes to realize they are trash.

Meanwhile, over on the health care side, it's much like the credit reporting side: trapped by a flawed system that has been gamed by swindlers.

[ianmcc]

What's not to love? The man is bi-lingual in French, plays both the guitar and piano, is close to his family, is working on writing a book, works out regularly and is a licensed shiatsu massage therapist! (*sigh*) Why oh why are all the best guys straight? ;)

[Dionita]

You are too funny, ian. I was just saying the same thing about girls..sigh.

[gimle10]

The "free credit report" guy doesn't even sing - his accent is too thick so the company pays another guy to sing - I think he's the guy that we should be seeing. I was never fooled into thinking it was really free. Come on people, who thinks ads are totally truthful? I do not need a nanny state to help me with this.

On to the Sham wow guy, i like him and I have to say I like the cloths. I have used mine for a couple years and they have replaced paper towels in my house. Course, I got mine from ebay and didn't pay $20 for them, I think it was $7. Always check ebay before you spend your money!

[joetherealist]

"who thinks ads are totally truthful? "

Exactly. Who in their right mind would think that Experian, in all of their wisdom and generosity, would spend untold millions to give something away for free?

[factotem]

Do you release negative public statements about your employer, anonymous author of this article? ...and were you born yesterday?

tempest in a teapot.

[mrsLambert]

The author of this article is Arthur Delaney. It /is/ hard to see the author's name because HP doesn't put the author's name in the place you would expect.

Instead of being under the title of the article, they have it floating over the title. It sort of looks like an advertisement, maybe that's another reason it is hard to notice.