FreeCreditReport.com
Encyclopedia
FreeCreditScore.com and FreeCreditReport.com are websites owned by Experian Consumer Direct, a subsidiary of the credit bureau Experian
. The sites offer users their personal credit reports
from Experian on the condition that they sign up for Experian's Triple Advantage credit monitoring program for a fee. The credit report also comes with the user's PLUS
credit score
. The membership may be canceled with no charge within 7 days of signup.
The sites, their benefactors, and related business entities have received multiple federal injunctions on deceptive marketing and business practices.
for deceptive marketing tactics. They settled for $950,000 in the form of free credit monitoring for those affected and agreed not to use deceptive and misleading claims about free offers and to offer full disclosure of terms and conditions of any free offers. The penalty was largely seen as ineffective since it amounted to a small fraction of the $72 million dollar annual advertising budget for free credit report. They were further subjected to a 2006 inquiry by the Florida
Attorney General
for violating Florida
's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. An MSNBC.com
investigation of the website called it "misleading", "deceptive" and a "scam". The program has also been identified as a scam by ConsumerFraudReporting.org.
The advertising practices of FreeCreditReport.com were specifically addressed in the Credit CARD Act of 2009
. Now any company who advertises a 'free credit report' on TV or radio must include the statement: "This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law." The law also calls for the Federal Trade Commission to issue new rules that will force free credit report advertisers to inform consumers that the only place for a free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com
.
campaign featuring singer Eric Violette as a man struggling with difficult life circumstances due to his poor credit score, and his ignorance of it. The commercials feature jingles written using various distinctive forms of popular music. To date the company has aired nine different commercials, which have aired in different orders in different markets. The commercials featuring Violette and his band stopped airing in February 2010 to focus advertising on FreeCreditScore.com and a new band.
The themes/motifs of the commercials include, in order:
Most feature references to the original "Pirate" commercial; either lyrically, or by including it as part of the background.
Violette was born June 12, 1981 in Montreal
and attended the National Theatre School of Canada
in 2002. The commercials prepared by David Muhlenfeld & Shakur Green at the The Martin Agency
began appearing in October 2007. Due to Violette's Canadian French
accent, his voice has been dubbed in the United States. He earlier did a Sirius Satellite Radio
commercial in French.
When asked about his character by the Washington Post, Violette said that "He's a guy who has a lot of dreams and hopes. But he's not able to make them concrete because I think he's a little bit lazy. He's the kind of guy who always has bad luck . . . but I'm sure he has a good heart."
The commercials have spawned various homages including many parodies on YouTube
. MADtv
parodied the ads in a sketch that featured a young man cursed by bad luck after getting a credit card his senior year of high school. After racking up $80,000 in debt, he ends up in jail, escapes and eventually winds up living with a skinhead named Fang "in a soggy cardboard box". The Federal Trade Commission
produced two public service announcements parodying the commercials to remind citizens of the right to annual free credit reports
from annualcreditreport.com
.
. In August 2010 The American Secrets were named the new FCS Band.
FCS Commercial Themes:
Experian
Experian plc, formerly known as CCN Systems, is a global credit information group with operations in 36 countries. The company employs 15,500 people with corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and operational headquarters in Nottingham, England and Costa Mesa, California, US...
. The sites offer users their personal credit reports
Credit history
Credit history or credit report is, in many countries, a record of an individual's or company's past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy...
from Experian on the condition that they sign up for Experian's Triple Advantage credit monitoring program for a fee. The credit report also comes with the user's PLUS
PLUS
PLUS is an interbank network that covers all VISA credit, debit, and prepaid cards, as well as ATM cards issued by various banks worldwide...
credit score
Credit score (United States)
A credit score in the United States is a number representing the creditworthiness of a person, the likelihood that person will pay his or her debts....
. The membership may be canceled with no charge within 7 days of signup.
The sites, their benefactors, and related business entities have received multiple federal injunctions on deceptive marketing and business practices.
Abusive practices
FreeCreditReport.com has been the subject of two major lawsuits. In 2005, the site's owner, Experian Consumer Direct, was sued by the Federal Trade CommissionFederal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
for deceptive marketing tactics. They settled for $950,000 in the form of free credit monitoring for those affected and agreed not to use deceptive and misleading claims about free offers and to offer full disclosure of terms and conditions of any free offers. The penalty was largely seen as ineffective since it amounted to a small fraction of the $72 million dollar annual advertising budget for free credit report. They were further subjected to a 2006 inquiry by the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
for violating Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. An MSNBC.com
Msnbc.com
msnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
investigation of the website called it "misleading", "deceptive" and a "scam". The program has also been identified as a scam by ConsumerFraudReporting.org.
The advertising practices of FreeCreditReport.com were specifically addressed in the Credit CARD Act of 2009
Credit CARD Act of 2009
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 or Credit CARD Act of 2009 is a federal statute passed by the United States Congress and signed by President Barack Obama on May 22, 2009...
. Now any company who advertises a 'free credit report' on TV or radio must include the statement: "This is not the free credit report provided for by Federal law." The law also calls for the Federal Trade Commission to issue new rules that will force free credit report advertisers to inform consumers that the only place for a free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com
Annualcreditreport.com
Annualcreditreport.com is a website jointly operated by the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The site was created in order to comply with their obligations under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act to provide a mechanism for American...
.
Singing ad campaign
In October 2007, Experian Consumer Direct began airing an advertisingAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
campaign featuring singer Eric Violette as a man struggling with difficult life circumstances due to his poor credit score, and his ignorance of it. The commercials feature jingles written using various distinctive forms of popular music. To date the company has aired nine different commercials, which have aired in different orders in different markets. The commercials featuring Violette and his band stopped airing in February 2010 to focus advertising on FreeCreditScore.com and a new band.
The themes/motifs of the commercials include, in order:
- Pirate-themed restaurant
- Living with in-laws
- Country Western stage show
- Renaissance Fair
- Used car
- Bicycle riding
- Hip-hop pool party
- Roller Coaster
- Small town / cell phone shop
- Country Bar in Reno
Most feature references to the original "Pirate" commercial; either lyrically, or by including it as part of the background.
Violette was born June 12, 1981 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and attended the National Theatre School of Canada
National Theatre School of Canada
The National Theatre School of Canada is a private college located in Montreal, Quebec.Established in Montreal in 1960, the National Theatre School of Canada offers professional training in English and French in a setting that unites all the theatre arts: acting, playwriting, directing, set and...
in 2002. The commercials prepared by David Muhlenfeld & Shakur Green at the The Martin Agency
The Martin Agency
The Martin Agency is an American advertising agency based in Richmond, Virginia that is now part of Interpublic Group of Companies.*Freecreditreport.com jingle since October 2007 starring Eric Violette.*"The money you could be saving with Geico"-Clients:...
began appearing in October 2007. Due to Violette's Canadian French
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...
accent, his voice has been dubbed in the United States. He earlier did a Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
commercial in French.
When asked about his character by the Washington Post, Violette said that "He's a guy who has a lot of dreams and hopes. But he's not able to make them concrete because I think he's a little bit lazy. He's the kind of guy who always has bad luck . . . but I'm sure he has a good heart."
The commercials have spawned various homages including many parodies on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
parodied the ads in a sketch that featured a young man cursed by bad luck after getting a credit card his senior year of high school. After racking up $80,000 in debt, he ends up in jail, escapes and eventually winds up living with a skinhead named Fang "in a soggy cardboard box". The Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
produced two public service announcements parodying the commercials to remind citizens of the right to annual free credit reports
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is a United States federal law, passed by the United States Congress on November 22, 2003, and signed by President George W. Bush on December 4, 2003, as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act...
from annualcreditreport.com
Annualcreditreport.com
Annualcreditreport.com is a website jointly operated by the three major U.S. credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The site was created in order to comply with their obligations under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act to provide a mechanism for American...
.
Freecreditscore Band Campaign
In May 2010 a nationwide band search began to find the new face of freecreditscore.com. Live auditions were held in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Bands could also submit videos of themselves online at freecreditscoreband.com for consideration. Many were typical entries, but some bands, apparently as a joke, submitting videos as well, most notably Comparative Anatomy (band)Comparative Anatomy (band)
Comparative Anatomy is an experimental drum & bass band from Charlottesville, Virginia. Known for their elaborate costumes, absurd humor, simple but diverse textures and unique sound, the band has recently become known in the experimental and noise rock scenes for their outlandish performances...
. In August 2010 The American Secrets were named the new FCS Band.
FCS Commercial Themes:
- "Check It" featuring the new FCS iPhone App
- "Secret" features the band in a golfing course
- "Co-Signing 101" features the band as a "cover band" at a dorm room party
External links
- AnnualCreditReport.com, the legally mandatedFair and Accurate Credit Transactions ActThe Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 is a United States federal law, passed by the United States Congress on November 22, 2003, and signed by President George W. Bush on December 4, 2003, as an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act...
, FTCFederal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
-promoted site.