Going Negative

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Some of the biggest names in business are taking a page out of the political handbook, “going negative” in advertising against competitors. Specifically, there is a new emphasis on the character issue, with TV spots increasingly playing on customer fears and doubts.

This is a logical outcome of two prominent forces: The recession has been starving companies, and they are now highly motivated by hunger. And the wave of scandals that began with Enron and Arthur Andersen and moved on to Tyco, WorldCom and Merrill Lynch has predominantly involved giant business-services firms.

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