Turbotax Marketing Disaster

Wow this is really pathetic and sad. The tax preparation software company Turbotax is using washed up never-have-beens to promote their brand on Youtube. I was just checking some videos on youtube this morning when I see this ad in the top right corner:

Tay Zonday? That guy's still around trying to make a buck? Alright you can't blame a guy for trying to squeeze out every ounce of coin from his fame, I'd do the same. I guess what's more shocking is that companies are still paying him money to promote their brand as if he were a legitimate pop icon with the power to persuade the masses. And talk about a confused message. What the hell does Tay Zonday have to do with doing your taxes?

So I click on the ad and it takes me to a music video of Tay Zonday singing about Turbotax in a song called "Freeloader Nation". Oh apparently there is some sort of contest...something about rapping about how great Turbotax is and wait a minute, what the fuck is that Vanilla Ice? Oh God.


If Tay Zonday and Vanilla Ice together don't spell PR disaster, I don't know what will. Whoever thought up this idea should be canned immediately. And poor Vanilla Ice, how degrading. Look at this silly hat they made him wear:


What follows is the winning video by some guy calling himself cpulfer, and a phone call made to him by Vanilla Ice himself letting him know he had won. The prize was $25,000. I wonder how much they paid Ice, Tay, and Youtube. This is just sad all around.

By the way, most people don't even need to bother with these tax programs. You can easily file online through the IRS's website. They offer a service called Free File Fillable Forms where you can fill out the necessary forms yourself online and submit them for free.