Here are the menu boards:

The news, of course, has ad agencies breathing a little easier. GM already owes several agencies and media buyers millions of dollars — and the industry overall is hurting. As for the content of the ads, GM has been taking its cues from the airline industry — particularly Northwest Airlines (now Delta).

From the WSJ:

Leading up to its Chapter 11 filing, GM studied how other industries handled communicating with the public while in financial hardship, zeroing in on airlines and particularly Northwest Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005.

GM found that by using its frequent-flier database and sending email and letters to customers, Northwest, which has since left bankruptcy court and was acquired last year by Delta Air Lines, was able to reassure many customers very quickly that it would continue to fly.

In a campaign that began airing shortly after its Chapter 11 filing, GM went beyond reassurance. In a TV spot dubbed "Reinvention," created by Interpublic's Deutsch, it acknowledged its problems but painted a more positive picture of the future.

"This is not about going out of business, this is about getting down to business, because the only chapter we are focused on is chapter one," intones the narrator of the ad, which is scheduled to end later this month.

What do you think? Should GM be cutting back on advertising until it emerges from bankruptcy? Or is it important to reassure the public?

GM Will Hold Ad Budget Steady [WSJ]
(Photo:frankieleon)

Comcast says:

The NFL has been misleading the public by accusing Comcast of depriving cable customers of its network. I would like to set the record straight.

The truth is that Comcast wants to carry NFL Network, and we have been working hard to come to an agreement to do just that before our current contract with the NFL expires on May 1. In fact, we have offered to continue to carry the network under the terms of our current contract, but the NFL has refused.

You may wonder why. We're asking the same question.

The NFL is the most sophisticated, lucrative, and powerful professional sports enterprise in the world, with a special exemption from antitrust laws that helps it maintain its monopoly on televised football. The NFL already makes more than $20 billion through long-term deals with ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC - more than the television-rights fees collected by the NBA, NHL, and NASCAR combined.

But the NFL wants more, and it's trying to use its enormous market power to force millions of our customers to pay for games they have always seen for free. (On top of that, it denies tens of millions of cable customers access to hundreds of games provided exclusively to DirecTV.)

Comcast currently makes NFL Network available on the dedicated sports and entertainment tier. We view this as the best and fairest way to provide NFL Network's expensive programming, because viewers who want to watch the channel can do so, while those who prefer not to aren't forced to cover the network's high costs.

NFL Network provides only eight live, regular-season, out-of-market games a year. The vast majority of the network's programming is filler such as training-camp coverage and draft analysis, which may interest the super-fan, but not most cable customers. And yet the network wants to charge higher fees than virtually any other national cable network.

Since the NFL doesn't like the terms of the contract it signed, it has repeatedly asked the courts and government authorities to require that the terms be changed. Contrary to the NFL's recent claims, though, the Federal Communications Commission has made no final determinations as to whether the NFL's claims of discrimination by Comcast are valid or bogus.

But despite our offer to do what's in the best interests of fans, we anticipate that the NFL may terminate Comcast's right to carry NFL Network. No matter what happens, though, Philadelphia fans will still see every Eagles game and all the NFL games on CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN. In fact, we carry more than 250 NFL games across the country every year.

Nobody can doubt Comcast's passionate commitment to giving our customers the best sports programming. We own the Flyers and the Sixers, and we bring thousands of professional, college, and local sporting events to our customers each year.

We have reached hundreds of agreements with other cable networks, and we typically renew our network agreements without any interruption of service. We would like to continue to carry NFL Network. But we will do so only on terms that are fair to our customers.

The NFL should join us in putting the interests of fans and the viewing public first.

You can review the NFL network's side of the story here. And, of course, there's actually a third side of the argument, the consumers who don't care about football and don't want their basic cable rates to rise to pay for the NFL Network.

So, Consumerists, let's settle this once and for all. Who's right? Does Comcast have the right to charge whatever it likes for cable channels as part of its business? Or is it unfairly singling out the NFL channel as the league claims? (Comcast apparently does not put the channels it owns or has ownership interest in (Golf Channel, Versus and MLB Network) on a sports tier.)

NFL Network is not for everyone [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The NYT, which recently had to sell its office space and promise to rent it back, says that by next year all "two newspaper" markets could be "one newspaper" markets — and "one newspaper markets" will probably have no newspapers at all.

As Cities Go From Two Papers to One, Talk of Zero [NYT]
(Photo:The Notorious T.D.P.)

From the New York Times:

About those lattes: the company is fed up with the characterization that it only sells $4 specialty drinks. "The $3.95 price point is a backhanded way to go at the four-buck perception - it's less than four bucks, and it's not just a drink, but food to go with it," said Terry Davenport, Starbucks's chief marketing officer.

The Times says that chain is also revamping its menus, which will no longer emphasize the pricey specialty drinks and instead focus on brewed and iced coffee.

So, what do you think?

Starbucks Addresses the Price Issue, and Breakfast [NYT]
(Photo:Paxton Holley)

From the 1950s to the 1980s consumers saved about 9% of their income, says MarketWatch. Are we headed back to those levels?

Are you saving more? If so, why?

Savings rate rises to 14-year high in January [MarketWatch]
(Photo:yoshiffles)

The company also has seen rising delinquencies in its credit-card business, another source of trouble. The credit card business dragged down fourth-quarter results with a one-time, pre-tax loss of $135 million.

So, what do you think, is Target too expensive?

Target 4Q profit falls 41 percent amid downturn [AP](Thanks, j!)
(Photo:intangiblearts)

Citigroup said in a statement yesterday that no bailout funds were being used to name the stadium, but that it hasn't made a final decision about whether or not to go through with the deal.

A week ago, two congressmen, Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) and Ted Poe (R., Texas) wrote to new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking him to "push Citigroup to dissolve the Mets deal."

"Citigroup is now dependent on the support of the federal government for its survival as an institution," the letter said. "As such, we do not believe Citigroup ought to spend $400 million to name a stadium at the same time that they accept over $350 billion in taxpayer support and guarantees."

So, what should we do?

Citi Explores Breaking Mets Deal [WSJ via Gothamist]
(Photo:wallyg)

If the in-air Internet connections work as billed, and if many passengers pony up as much as $12.95 per flight, then United will consider installing Wi-Fi service on other aircraft, said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski.

United Airlines to offer Wi-Fi on its premium flights [Chicago Tribune]

From Reuters:

Scott said this downturn may fundamentally change people's spending habits.

"I'm not necessarily convinced that just when all this liquidity and things hit, if you're going to have the same immediate desire to go back to consumption and debt," he said, referring to a potential U.S. government stimulus plan.

"There are a lot of young people who have learned what it's like when you are living on the edge and the bad times come."

UPDATE 3-Wal-Mart CEO sees no quick rebound for US economy [Reuters]
(Photo:Da Nes)

In the letter, GM apologizes for its poor quality and "lackluster" designs.

"While we're still the U.S. sales leader, we acknowledge we have disappointed you," the ad said. "At times we violated your trust by letting our quality fall below industry standards and our designs became lackluster."

"We have proliferated our brands and dealer network to the point where we lost adequate focus on the core U.S. market. We also biased our product mix toward pick-up trucks and SUVs."

Now they want your forgiveness — and hope that that forgiveness will take the form of a huge bailout for their industry. Are you feeling it yet?

GM says it "disappointed" and "betrayed" consumers [Reuters]
(Photo: damageinc86 )

70% said the bailout was unfair to taxpayers, and only 15% thought that bankruptcies in the auto industry would affect them immediately.

What do you think?

Poll: 61% oppose auto bailout [CNNMoney]
(Photo: sfxeric )

From MarketWatch:

"It's helping us all to run better operations," Parker said. The new fee at US Airways accounts for most of the $400 million to $500 million in annual revenue for services, he said.

US Airways' new baggage fees help improve performance [MarketWatch]
(Photo: zonaphoto )

Will Circuit City's bankruptcy affect your shopping plans?

“Sales for the month of October were very disappointing, with continued volatility in daily results,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president and CEO of Target Corp. “We expect the recent challenging sales environment to continue into the holiday season and beyond as a result of the economic factors currently affecting consumer spending.”

Walmart is apparently benefiting from a new found frugality among American shoppers.

Are you abandoning Target for Walmart? Or just spending less at Target? What's up?

Wal-Mart sales up, Target down [Bizjournals]
(Photo: fleamobile )

From the AP:

Customers who purchased Delta tickets on or before Wednesday, and who are traveling on or after Dec. 5, will be charged $50 for a second bag, but will be permitted to check their first bag without charge based on Delta's previous policy. Customers flying in first or business class, including SkyMiles Medallion members and WorldPerks Elite members, will be able to check up to three bags, up to 70 pounds each, for free, Delta said.

Delta Air Lines adding first bag fee [IHT]
(Photo: Flying Photog )

The New York Times says that DisplaySearch, a market research firm, says that so-called "Black Friday" prices "could go as low as $400 for a 32-inch LCD, and $600 for a 42-inch plasma set — about $200 off current prices."

From the NYT:

Many retailers are cutting costs because they expect a lighter selling season. Best Buy announced that it would hire 16,000 to 20,000 seasonal employees, a hefty drop from last year’s 26,000 seasonal hires.

Best Buy’s comparable-store sales in September dropped 2 percent from the year before. “We’ll see less traffic,” Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president, said. “We’ll grow our share by offering the right solution, product and service. We’re not looking to get every dime out of you. If a customer just wants the lowest price on a TV set, we’ll give it to them with a smile.”

And to increase the likelihood that customers will pull out their wallets, several manufacturers, including Panasonic and Sharp, are working with retailers to offer extended financing with either same-as-cash interest or deferred payment plans.

Some believe that bundling items, like a flat-screen TV with a Blu-ray player or an audio system, will provide that extra value that will push consumers to buy.

Best Buy will offer a bundle “targeted to middle America,” Mr. Dunn said.

Hefty Discounts Could Arrive on Big-Screen TVs, but Buyers May Be Resistant [NYT]
(Photo: Clean Wal-Mart )

AdFreak reports:

"Our intent is to get learning in an open way, not necessarily to 'roll out' anything in that store," Best Buy CMO Barry Judge writes on his blog. "I need to emphasize that we have not decided to iterate our logo."

The font is apparently modified from something called Klavika.

What do you think? Better than the gigantic yellow price tag? Will this give Best Buy a fresh new image? Or is this the same annoying ex-girlfriend with a new haircut?

In case you're wondering what it looks like in action, you can find photos of the Mall of America store here, here and here.

Best Buy's New Tag [Brand New]
Best Buy tests new logo at Mall of America [AdFreak]

Some friends and I are going to Las Vegas in December and have found a house to rent for the week we are there. We're getting a shocking good deal, hundreds of dollars cheaper than what was listed in the original posting. When I was Googling the address, I found out that the property is listed as a foreclosure.

They've asked for a $400 deposit and then the payment in full 30 days prior to check in. I've countered by telling them I saw that the property may be in foreclosure and is it okay to pay the full amount when we get the keys. It's kind of an awkward situation. I want to help them out, but don't want to get burnt and have a horrible holiday.

What can we do to protect ourselves against the house being repossessed before our vacation in December? Is that even a possibility? Will putting it on a credit card make a difference if we need to fight it? Does this situation stink worse than Las Vegas casino that's been smoked in for 50 years and should I run far far away?

Thank you,

Kelly from Canada

PS: In a side note, they've also asked for a 2.3% "credit card processing fee". I thought this wasn't allowed; is it best to take it up with the property owners or our credit card company?

We think you've made an excellent case for not going ahead with this rental. How much is your peace of mind worth? And you're correct, the processing fee is not allowed for companies that take credit cards as a part of their normal business activities.

We're going to toss this one out to the crowd. What should Kelly do?

(Photo: kevin dean )

From the New York Times:

Advocates for food safety condemned the agency’s decision and asserted that irradiation could lower nutritional value, create unsafe chemicals and ruin taste.

“It’s a total cop-out,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch. “They don’t have the resources, the authority or the political will to really protect consumers from unsafe food.”

Dr. Laura Tarantino, director of the Office of Food Additive Safety at the F.D.A., said the agency had found no serious nutritional or safety changes associated with irradiation of spinach or lettuce.

“These irradiated foods are not less safe than others,” Dr. Tarantino said, “and the doses are effective in reducing the level of disease-causing micro-organisms.”

The government has long allowed food processors to irradiate beef, eggs, poultry, oysters and spices, but the market for irradiated foods is tiny because the government also requires that these foods be labeled as irradiated, labels that scare away most consumers.

“People think the product is radioactive,” said Harlan Clemmons, president of Sadex, a food irradiation company based in Sioux City, Iowa.

What do you think? Will you happily eat irradiated spinach?

F.D.A. Allows Irradiation of Some Produce [NYT]
(Photo: smcgee )

Holiday travelers paying more for gas [CNNMoney]
(Photo: nsub1 )

Some people don't see anything wrong with the behavior:

Jimmy Deignan's first time was with a $500 portable DVD player.

He bought it a few years ago at Best Buy for a Boston-to-Los Angeles flight, knowing he would return it for a full refund when he got back. More recently, in November, rather than spending $600 to rent a LCD projector for a business presentation, the Holden resident purchased one at Staples, then returned it a few days later and got his money back.

The way Deignan sees it, he is just a smart shopper: He gets the things he needs, uses them for as long as he wants, and saves money.
...
Some shoppers who wardrobe do not think they are doing anything wrong. Deignan refers to the way he buys as renting. To see him through the NFL playoffs, Deignan planned to wardrobe a plasma TV after his set broke in December. But it got fixed in time, just before the first Patriots playoff game.

"There's lots of times when I buy stuff that someone's bought before. When I rent something, I'm taking good care of it," said Deignan, who works as an event coordinator. "And, it made me look good when I saved my company $600 in rental fees for the projector."

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Retailers Crack Down On Serial Returns [Boston Globe] (Thanks, Sean!)
(Photo:Getty)

The national median price drop of 5.8%, to $206,200 from $219,300, was the steepest ever recorded by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which has been compiling the report since 1979.

Goldman Sachs is predicting that 15 million homeowners could owe more than their home is worth.

Prices have fallen more than 10 percent since their July 2006 peak in the worst U.S. housing slump in 26 years as the number of unsold homes has grown and prospective homeowners had a tougher time getting home loans. As many as 15 million U.S. households may owe more on their mortgages by the end of this year than their homes are worth, according to an estimate by Jan Hatzius, chief U.S. economist at New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Home Prices Fall in 77 U.S. Metro Areas, Realtors Say (Update2) [Bloomberg]
Home prices in steepest quarterly drop [CNNMoney]
(Photo:improbcat)

The numbers are pretty startling: The total number of machines in the U.S. dropped by 1,000 from 2005 to 2006 (although still at a hefty 395,000). The total number of U.S. ATM transactions dropped in 2006 for the second consecutive year, to 10.1 billion. Monthly transactions per U.S. ATM, at 2,131 in 2006, are barely a third of the level in 1996.

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Is the ATM growing obsolete? [Seattle P-I]
(Photo: DarthMullet)

There's a lot of talk in the media about how gas prices are affecting consumer buying habits and hurting retail stores. What about you? Are you feeling the pinch? —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: superchou)

— BEN POPKEN

Previously: Flog Awards 2006 thread.

We're sending the small one to Sony, and the big one to Zipatoni!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unboxing pix, inside...

Sony takes the golden poo, because they should have known better. We know that Walmart and McDonalds are creepy and they have few scruples about exploiting a medium to gain market share, but Sony is supposed to be better. Sure, they can come across as a little cold and bitchy, but at least "cool." Not engaging in the lamest attempt to do a pretend customer blog the world has ever seen.

Now, where do we deliver this award? Do we mail it to the CEO? To the company that made the blog? Where o where do we fling our golden poo?

CONTENDERS' FLOGS

McDonald's, for 4Railroads and Mcdmillionwinner
Walmart, for Walmarting Across America
Sony, for All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP

AFTERTHOUGHTS

While pretend sites and stunts are common in video game marketing, there's a difference between spinning an engaging story virally and outright duplicity.

Douchebags are attracted by the cost/benefit ratio and they go, "Wow, we could spend $500 on a video and become an internet sensation!"

Instead, people should be asking, "How can we use these really powerful and interesting tools to tell a better story?"

To take full advantage of blogs, companies should stop hiring b-school and j-school dropouts or former web developers, and start grabbing up hungry English majors. — BEN POPKEN

Since nobody should be allowed to move on from their mistakes, we're holding a knife fight to see who had the "best" flog of 2006.

Contestants...

McDonald's, for 4Railroads and Mcdmillionwinner
Walmart, for Walmarting Across America
Sony, for All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP

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The winner receives a golden feces. — BEN POPKEN

Previously: Announcing The Floggies

UPDATE: We realize the relationship between the bars and numbers are off. We're sorry if this hurts your feelings. The numbers are correct, the bars are not.

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Valleywag is holding a similar contest. Word up.

They're there because they're convenient avatars for bigger issues.

• Wal-Mart symbolizes our concern with the head of hyper-aggressive capitalism eating its tail.
• Halliburton encapsulates a discussion about global business' undue political influence.
• SonyBMG is the erosion of the public domain to enrich corporate interests.
• And H&R Block reflects the growing unease with little green boxes.

53.6% of you are compelled more by chemical imbalances than logic and thrift into finding the lowest price.
19.5% are simply cheap bastards.
12.1% would buy your groceries at online auction if you could.
8.9% get it from "a guy you know."
6% enjoy rummaging through garbage to find unused food and products.
Disgusting, yet frugal!

BTW, the Walmart photo is taken from the infamous Walmart dance party where some Colorado 'Sceneagers' staged dance fights inside the big box retailer. Vid, originally posted to the Toliet Paper Online blog, along with loads more Walmart dance videos, after the jump.

Surely a company that inspires dancing is not so evil?

Previously

• Round 9: Halliburton vs. H&R Block.
  
• Worst Company in America: Tier 1 Results

As you can see, Walmart is a place of a love and joy, where young consumers gather to release their passion for everyday low prices and friendly neighborhood values.

Walmart Dance Party

Hipster Girl Getting Footloose

Swing Dancing

Skanking goes from Kingston to Walmart

Back dat ass up.

El Champions del Hardcore Walmart Parking Lot

A vote for Sprint as Worst Company in America is a vote for dancing in Walmart like no one (except the camera) is watching.

Despite our best efforts to cast Target as an evil interloper, Walmart took the gold. Sprint barely beat Verizon by 18 votes, despite Verizon having such vaunted customer service. And in a surprise upset, the US government, despite not "officially" being a corporation, beat Enron by 169 votes! You go, girl!

We understand Tier 2 will be filled with trouncing. This is our first ladder we've ever made, sorry. While you were betting on basketball, we were touching ourselves.

Having eliminated all the lesser of two evils, Friday's shakedown for Tier 3, will be hot.

We're talking Paris Hilton hot.

In other news, NPR's Marketplace says they're going to interview us this afternoon about this poll. This will be a great way to reach all those execs and vp's who can't read the New York Times. We wonder if we're allowed to bring in our own sound effects.

"According to consumer affairs, ChoicePoint operates as a front for Data Mining for over 25 federal agencies." - mrscolex. His argument against ChoicePoint continues after the jump.

Sallie Mae: "The have a convenient history of "loosing" paperwork on in school deferments so they can double collect on fees from student loans." - Eusie.

Wikipedia entry for Sallie Mae.

Previously:

• Round 5: Jet Blue vs. Southwest
  
• Round 4: Target vs Walmart
  
• Round 3: Sprint vs. Verizon
  
• Round 2: H&R Block vs. US Postal Service
  
• Round 1: Halliburton vs. Monsanto
  
• Round 0: Competition Ladder

ChoicePoint. Check out their website at www.choicepoint.com

Looks all happy and friendly doesn't it? Smiling kids having fun. Thats exactly the image I think of when I imagine a massive database on every citizen of the united states.

ChoicePoint is one of the few companies that the government contracts for information on its terrorist databases among other things.

Where to start on a company like this? We'll start with an easy source, Google News

ChoicePoint leaked the records of 145,000-163,000 people back in October of 2004. The citizens who had their records leak didn't find out about it until Feb of 2005, and even then initially only the people who were residents of the state of California were notified per state law. (Everybody was eventually notified to the best of my knowledge)

In 2002 ChoicePoint willingly gave (choicepoint claims they were duped) records of more than 1500 individuals to a Nigerian businessman in california. I quote from the atlanta journal constitution: For at least two years beginning in 2002, Oluwatosin used cellphones, fake addresses and anonymous mail-drop boxes in the Los Angeles area to masquerade as a business owner and trick ChoicePoint into selling him access to addresses, real estate records, bank data and other details of consumers that ultimately led to millions of dollars in credit card fraud.

The funny thing is that most people don't even know that their records are kept on this Georgia based company's data system.

Recently, the FTC levied a 10 million dollar fine against choicepoint, and choicepoint agreed to set up a 5 million dollar trust for victims who may have lost money as the result of ID leaks from their systems. Fortunately, if you do the math on total possible number of people who have had their data stolen, you get a whopping 30 bucks per person. Thanks choicepoint!

At one point the TSA almost agreed to use the databases that ChoicePoint holds to do their security checks for flights, but the plan was scrapped after outrage that the government was trying to circumvent privacy laws.

But in June of 2005, that didn't stop the CIA from granting a contract up to 20 million dollars to ChoicePoint for batch processing of public records.

According to consumer affairs, ChoicePoint operates as a front for Data Mining for over 25 federal agencies.

So go take one last look at their happy website with the children dancing. Makes you sick doesn't it?

And so it was willed.

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Previously:

• Round 4: Target vs Walmart
  
• Round 3: Sprint vs. Verizon
  
• Round 2: H&R Block vs. US Postal Service
  
• Round 1: Halliburton vs. Monsanto
  
• Round 0: Competition Ladder
  

"Same employment practices as Wal-Mart. They just haven't reached big enough scale to upset the underdog-worshippers out there," said RaginCajun on submitting Target.

Airship on Walmart: "They kill small towns; they kill their own suppliers; they leach off the government for benefits for their employees; and they promote the idea that cheaper is better, no matter what the hidden costs."

Who we're voting for, plus talking points for you ignore while making your biased decision based on a purely emotional response, after the jump...

Previously:

• Round 3: Sprint vs. Verizon
  
• Round 2: H&R Block vs. US Postal Service
  
• Round 1: Halliburton vs. Monsanto
  
• Round 0: Competition Ladder
  

Allegedly, Target employees can refuse to fulfill your birth control prescription if the in-store pharmacist finds it morally objectionable. This may strike you as good if you re a crib-crusher or evil if you re a pussy-ass lifer.

Target.com wants to help you raise your GLBT children. Why? Because gays love Target and Target wants to help them breed a new generation of shoppers.

Not everyone gets the nice suburban tier of Targets, either. A nearby Target at the Brooklyn Atlantic center is dirty, confusing, and poorly stocked and managed. If cleanliness is next to godliness, and Target is dirty, Target is next to devilness, the devil is evil and so Target is evil.

Target's been accused of kicking out the Salvation Army because they didn't like the bell-ringers stance against gays and homosexuals. The company policy explains otherwise. They have removed the Red Army from the premises but it's to provide a 'distraction-free' environment of consumer consumption. Target still donates money to the Salvation Army and allows shoppers, Nov 25-Jan 25, to vist Target.com/salvationarmy to purchase items to be donate to the SA. Not causing my ears to ring like a klaxon?

Evil.

Mitigating evil: Walmart today announced plans to loosen its requirements for employee health insurance. Waiting periods, now two years, will be reduced and part-time employees will be allowed to get their children on the health plan. You don't get nothin' for free, though. Children on their parent's plan will be forced into free labor for Wal-Mart after the age of six. Hey, it's what made China great.

Applying the Google Search Result test, we find "target is evil" returns 2,490,000 results and "walmart is evil," 439,000 results. These numbers are completely spurious as some of the results don't refer to Target the store, as in "Hammer of Righteousness deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level, or 1d8 points of damage per caster level if the target is evil..." [emphasis added].

We re voting for Target. Why?
1) They re the underdog.
2) They re trying to be nice to everyone. A sure sign of evil.
3) Someone made an unsubstantiated claim that Target has unfair labor practices.
4) An ex-girlfriend, totally evil, was super fixated on Target. Ergo, Target is evil by association.

Down with ineffable evil.