Electronic Arts Voted Out of "Worst Company In America" Poll

[BeerTent]

Oh, shit. Someone who provides us with piss-poor entertainment isn't the worst company in the world! Call the fucking press!

I know it's a gaming site, and I know that some people can't do this for professional reasons here, but if you don't like the company, don't buy their games! The last three games I had was Mass Effect, Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge. I missed absolutely nothing of value!

On topic, All this poo award does is put out a press conference, and everyone forgets about it. If there was anything behind it, yes, I'd root for it. But just like EA did, the companies we have here who actually do severe, lasting, and highly significant damage with their monopolies and biopolies are not going to change. This is a lazy way of saying, "I've done my part." when the reality is that you haven't done anything. If you want to make a change in the world, you need to do something about it. And this can be very easily directed to the consumerist as well.

 

[Sean Strife]

Eh, to me it seemed like EA was only in there for the "Returning Champion" spot anyways. I mean what did they do last year that was so horrible? BF4? Did anyone actually expect that to be good? I'd say SimCity was a bigger blunder. But still, EA wasn't the only company that put out a couple of crap games last year, as such I'd say that hardly makes them worthy of a third Worst Company in America trophy...

At least a third in a row. There's always this year.

Personally my money's on Microsoft for all the BS with the XBone announcement (specifically how Don Mattrick straight-up insulted potential customers on more than one occasion). I'd say that's far more worthy of a big golden poo than putting out a couple of crap games.

Speaking of Mattrick...why isn't Zynga on that list? I'd say the "crimes" they committed were worse than anything that EA did last year.

And for that matter, what's up with Abercrombe & Fitch being on the list? What'd they do? I'm actually asking to see if anyone knows since I don't. I don't care for their over-priced clothing and as such don't buy their products, but did they do something horrible last year? Or is it just their image of "Only douchebags shop here"?

Really? Microsoft should be on there for the XBone announcement? Not the leaks about them being involved with the whole NSA scandal? I'd say that should play just as big of a role, if not a bigger one, as the XBone blunder.

Zynga's not on the list because, guess what? Zynga doesn't matter anymore. The only people who even keep tabs on Zynga these days, ironically, are gamers that don't play their games. Their target demo has already moved on to their next shiny object like a flock of magpie.

And Abercrombie and Fitch are on the list because of their ridiculously draconian "look policy", which doesn't allow people to wear things otherwise sacred to their religion like cross necklaces or hijabs and consistently violate anti-employment discrimination laws (where one example included a girl being forced to work in the back room because of her prosthetic arm but that's not from this year), and also refusing to make their clothing in larger sizes because they "market a certain look", and the CEO is an absolute micro-managing nutjob. Although this doesn't tie in with why they're on this year's list: they have, at one point, marketed thongs to children. I hope this answers your question about why Abercrombie and Fitch is on the list: when it comes to clothing stores, they are the scummiest, by far.

To get on topic, though, I'm glad EA got voted out in the first round. Compared to most of the other companies on this list, EA are absolute saints. They don't ruin the environment like Monsanto, they aren't responsible for a potential monopoly like TWC and Comcast, they aren't threatening net neutrality like Verizon, they haven't been linked to huge privacy invading scandals like many other companies (namely Microsoft and Yahoo, although Google is suspiciously absent from the list...), they aren't racist like Abercrombie and Fitch, and they aren't absolutely killing the economy like a lot of the other companies on this list. The worst they have going on is the Battlefield 4 conspiracy, which absolutely pales in comparison to the Blackfish controversy surrounding SeaWorld right now.

 

[Andy Chalk]

EA had an unfair "advantage" in previous competitions because its only demographic is precisely the audience that's most likely to get mad and vote in an internet poll. That Time Warner Cable was able to beat it out obviously says a lot about Time Warner, but is it possible that it also reflects an evolving perspective among gamers who are coming to realize that botched game launches aren't really all that big a deal in the grand scheme of things? I like to think so, and some of the messages above seem to reflect a more forgiving attitude. Are we mellowing in our old age?

 

[Sean Strife]

EA had an unfair "advantage" in previous competitions because its only demographic is precisely the audience that's most likely to get mad and vote in an internet poll. That Time Warner Cable was able to beat it out obviously says a lot about Time Warner, but is it possible that it also reflects an evolving perspective among gamers who are coming to realize that botched game launches aren't really all that big a deal in the grand scheme of things? I like to think so, and some of the messages above seem to reflect a more forgiving attitude. Are we mellowing in our old age?

It very well could be, Andy, or it could just be us realizing that we're acting like the bunch of self-entitled little brats we've always been stereotyped to be, because of some bad games when there are far worse crimes actually be committed in terms of environmental destruction, economic meltdown, privacy invasion, racism, and just sheer anti-consumerism in general, and want to change our image in the eyes of the public. Game companies often get the flack from anti-consumerism (a topic I'm sure has been brought to the attention of most people on here thanks to Jim Sterling and the Jimquisition, thank God for him) and we realize that there are not only companies outside of the game industry guilty of this, but far more guilty than any game company could ever hope to be, and the only way we can possibly absolve ourselves of this negative stereotype is to actually apply the same standards we hold to our game companies to other companies as well, as it should be, and maybe this is just a small step to hopefully changing the world around us for the better: not just for us gamers, but for the world at large.

Establishing organizations like the Video Game Voters Network and donating to charities like Child's Play have certainly helped our image some over the years, but that was just the start. We consumers have a lot of power and we don't even realize it, and maybe, just maybe, we could use that power for the greater good of humanity as a whole.

 

[RJ 17]

Eh, to me it seemed like EA was only in there for the "Returning Champion" spot anyways. I mean what did they do last year that was so horrible? BF4? Did anyone actually expect that to be good? I'd say SimCity was a bigger blunder. But still, EA wasn't the only company that put out a couple of crap games last year, as such I'd say that hardly makes them worthy of a third Worst Company in America trophy...

At least a third in a row. There's always this year.

Personally my money's on Microsoft for all the BS with the XBone announcement (specifically how Don Mattrick straight-up insulted potential customers on more than one occasion). I'd say that's far more worthy of a big golden poo than putting out a couple of crap games.

Speaking of Mattrick...why isn't Zynga on that list? I'd say the "crimes" they committed were worse than anything that EA did last year.

And for that matter, what's up with Abercrombe & Fitch being on the list? What'd they do? I'm actually asking to see if anyone knows since I don't. I don't care for their over-priced clothing and as such don't buy their products, but did they do something horrible last year? Or is it just their image of "Only douchebags shop here"?

Really? Microsoft should be on there for the XBone announcement? Not the leaks about them being involved with the whole NSA scandal? I'd say that should play just as big of a role, if not a bigger one, as the XBone blunder.

Zynga's not on the list because, guess what? Zynga doesn't matter anymore. The only people who even keep tabs on Zynga these days, ironically, are gamers that don't play their games. Their target demo has already moved on to their next shiny object like a flock of magpie.

And Abercrombie and Fitch are on the list because of their ridiculously draconian "look policy", which doesn't allow people to wear things otherwise sacred to their religion like cross necklaces or hijabs and consistently violate anti-employment discrimination laws (where one example included a girl being forced to work in the back room because of her prosthetic arm but that's not from this year), and also refusing to make their clothing in larger sizes because they "market a certain look", and the CEO is an absolute micro-managing nutjob. Although this doesn't tie in with why they're on this year's list: they have, at one point, marketed thongs to children. I hope this answers your question about why Abercrombie and Fitch is on the list: when it comes to clothing stores, they are the scummiest, by far.

To get on topic, though, I'm glad EA got voted out in the first round. Compared to most of the other companies on this list, EA are absolute saints. They don't ruin the environment like Monsanto, they aren't responsible for a potential monopoly like TWC and Comcast, they aren't threatening net neutrality like Verizon, they haven't been linked to huge privacy invading scandals like many other companies (namely Microsoft and Yahoo, although Google is suspiciously absent from the list...), they aren't racist like Abercrombie and Fitch, and they aren't absolutely killing the economy like a lot of the other companies on this list. The worst they have going on is the Battlefield 4 conspiracy, which absolutely pales in comparison to the Blackfish controversy surrounding SeaWorld right now.

I hadn't heard about MS being involved with that NSA business, so I have to agree with you that that's a much more valid reason for them to be there than the XBone.

For Zynga: fair enough on that note.

For A&F: yes, that is exactly what I was looking for in an explanation since I didn't know much about them other than the fact that they exist and make clothes, so thanks for filling me in.

 

[Phlakes]

The best part about this is that people are actually responding to this pretty reasonably. I'm actually pretty surprised at the turnaround in just one year, last April everything was "yeah fuck EA everyone who works for them should die they deserve to win every year forever".

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I figured the winner would have to be Time Warner or Comcast after news of that proposed merger hit. (Hell, if they both make it to the final round, Consumerist should just end the competition there and declare a tie, as a joke.) Before that, my money was on Google.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

I figured the winner would have to be Time Warner or Comcast after news of that proposed merger hit. (Hell, if they both make it to the final round, Consumerist should just end the competition there and declare a tie, as a joke.) Before that, my money was on Google.

As someone once said: Don't bite the hand that feeds you. I am sure consumerist would love it if they suddenly disappear from the Google search links (similar to what happened after Apple got shat on by Maddox.)

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

On the one hand, it's good that a genuinely malevolent company will now have the chance at winning the title, as opposed to one that is simply grossly incompetent and has a tin ear.

On the other hand, no doubt EA will take this as a sign that they've been vindicated, and learn nothing from Sim City and Battlefield 4. Ugh.

 

[wAriot]

Spoiler: 'What could have been...'

[a href="http://i.imgur.com/UALihC7.png"]Click to enlarge

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I always found the damage control after EA won those two times funny. No one cared about this random internet poll, but EA wins and suddenly everyone is defending it (and, of course, attacking the voters, something that happens a lot in the video game industry: the fault is always in the consumers, the companies and developers are always the good guys) and blowing it out of proportion.

But seriously, who gives a damn if worse companies win this? Do they lose anything? Will they suddenly look at the mirror and say "wow, yes, this online poll surely has opened our eyes, we will change our policies right now"?

No, they won't. Not even EA did, but at least they replied, and that was funny. If BoA or Monsanto or any other "evil" corporation wins, no one will care, nothing will happen, and next year no one will remember it.

Whoop dee doo.