...is let the press, not to mention "a member of Congress," manage the economy.
AIG, Citibank and a number of other federally bailed-out financial institutions have no plans to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in sports team sponsorships, even as they take billions in taxpayer support, ABC News has found.
In boom times, the sponsorships were seen as a way to advertise the firms' "brands" and appeal to potential customers. Even today, at least one bank told ABC News that a naming deal was increasing its revenue. But critics, including a member of Congress, say the decision to continue them now is hard to defend.
[From ABC News: Citi, AIG Won't Drop Big Sports Sponsorships]
Look. It may well be as, ABC News reports, "some marketing experts" believe sports promotions are a waste of money - unlike, for example, advertising on ABC, which, one imagines, ABC News might not get quite so worked up about - or it may be not, as some other marketing experts no doubt think. But the underlying argument here isn't really about financial payback, it's about unseemliness.
If the real purpose of all this bailing is to put the companies in question back on their feet and not simply to feather the beds of CEO's, then the taxpayers should want what every other investor wants and that, among other things, is aggressive selling. Suggesting that, because taxpayer money is involved, the companies should remain modestly inconspicuous is just plain dumb.
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