Electronic Arts Takes the Title of 2012 ‘Worst Company In America’

New York, NY – Electronic Arts, which made its inaugural appearance in Consumerist.com’s Worst Company In America tournament this year, has defeated bracket veteran Bank of America to claim the 2012 Grand Championship title, setting a tournament record for the most votes cast in a single round with 50,575 total submissions. While last year’s winner, BP, narrowly beat out rival Bank of America in 2011, this year EA easily claimed the prestigious Golden Poo Award, a statuette modeled after a pile of poo, with 64 percent of the votes.

Over its three-week run, the seventh annual Worst Company In America tournament drew more than 260,000 total votes, setting yet another contest record, from people fed up with the poor consumer policies of the 32 companies nominated from a range of industries, including airlines, telecommunications, retailers, financial institutes and more. EA overtook Sony, Best Buy, Comcast and finally Bank of America to claim the Worst Company In America crown.

While both Bank of America and EA drew consumer ire for their poorly-received practices of swallowing up smaller competitors and nickel-and-diming customers with up-charges and fees, EA’s success in this year’s tournament shines a spotlight on an industry that is often considered ignored by regulators, courts and the mainstream media.

"Some may look down their noses at the idea of voters picking a video game publisher as the Worst Company In America, but that is the exact kind of attitude that has allowed EA and its ilk to nickel and dime devoted customers for a decade,” said Chris Morran, Deputy Editor of Consumerist.com. “This is not just a few people complaining about bad games; this vote represents a large group of consumers who have grown sick and tired of being ignored and taken advantage of."

Although Bank of America wasn’t able to clinch the top honor in this year’s competition, it did earn its second consecutive Silver Poo Award. This year, Consumerist.com also awarded its first-ever Bronze Poo Award to AT&T, which beat out Walmart for the third-place spot in the tournament.

As a way of saying thanks for all the participation in this year’s tournament, Consumerist.com is also giving out an honorary Golden Poo Award to one lucky fan through its “Worst Company In America Beat the Bracket Sweepstakes.” The Grand Prize winner will receive a Consumerist.com prize package including their very own Golden Poo statue while four runners up will also receive a prize package from Consumerist.com.

While the Worst Company In America tournament may be over, be sure to check out Consumerist.com throughout the year for consumer-driven advice about dealing with everything from non-existent customer service to onerous cell-phone contracts to ever-shrinking (and ever-more-expensive) grocery products.

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The Consumerist empowers consumers by informing and entertaining them about the top consumer issues of the day. We are a leading online resource for consumer-driven advice about dealing with everything from non-existent customer service to onerous cell-phone contracts to ever-shrinking (and ever-more-expensive) grocery products. The Consumerist is published by Consumer Media LLC, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Consumer Reports, and takes no outside advertising.

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The Consumerist's parent company, Consumer Media LLC, is a subsidiary of Consumer Reports, the nation's leading not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization. Since its founding in 1936, Consumer Reports has fought for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To maintain independence and impartiality, CR accepts neither outside advertising nor free samples. It employs a staff of "mystery shoppers" who buy products in retail stores around the country, just as any other buyer would, and then ship them to the Consumer Reports labs, where technical experts test some 3,000 products yearly.

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