Fire with Fire

From Adweek:
Brand: Federal Trade Commission
Agency: In-House
Review Date: March 10, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission has had quite enough of FreeCreditReport.com's popular ad campaign and today launched a response that not only sharply mimics the musical FCR spots and basically calls that company a big fat liar. The FTC salvo informs consumers of the truly free option, from Annualcreditreport.com. "Other sites may turn your head. They say they are free, don't be misled," sings a band's frontman, though doesn't seem quite as comfortable in the role of pitchman as the singer in FCR's spots from The Martin Agency. "Once you are in their tangled web, they'll sell you something else instead." The ad never mentions the competitor by name but anyone who has seen the memorable FCR ads will recognize the culprit and get the message loud and clear.-- Eleftheria Parpis