A Consumerist readers' poll of the "worst companies" has awarded Electronic Arts a "Golden Poo" for the second year in a row. The video game maker, whose botched release of "SimCity" recently drew intense criticism from users, earned nearly 78 percent of readers' votes, faring far worse than runner-up Bank of America.
Other companies in the running included Ticketmaster, whose fees have consistently irked concertgoers for years; Comcast, whose "horrendous service, exorbitant costs [and] throttled internet" helped secure it the worst company title in 2010; and Carnival, whose infamous "poop ship" sunk its reputation earlier this year.
Consumerist ran down all the reasons why EA deserves, once again, the title of "Worst Company in America." In a nut shell, it claims the game maker is unapologetic about products that are substandard, over-priced and under-supported.
Fair enough, but the selection of EA over the other companies in the brackish biz bracket hints at some fundamentally skewed priorities. True, the "SimCity" flap was recent, and there have been other incidents that might explain why voters revile EA. But maybe Consumerist readers haven't been paying close enough attention to the news.
Unlike the Internet, video games are a luxury good, not a basic necessity of modern life. No one ever lost his house over a bad decision Electronic Arts made. No one's life has been endangered by always-online DRM.
These facts do not exonerate Electronic Arts. For a video game developer, a company supposedly in the business of fun, EA was the cause of more than a few frowns this year. It may be guilty of turning a toy into a chore, and there is nothing wrong with taking it to task for that. But one would hope the flames of consumer ire would have bigger fish to fry.
What do you think? Is EA the "Worst Company in America"? What company would you have nominated? Share your thoughts in the comments, or tweet us @HuffPostTech.
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