I do not know about you, but I am sick of seeing every company that has an enemy that endangers them trying to take them out of business. It just seems to me to be very unethical.
all types of companies did, or still do it.

DirecTV>Dish Network
Macintosh>Microsoft (im a mac... im a pc, WHO CARES?) i do have a strong opinion on this one.
car insurance companies (just plain in general...)
Wal-Mart
AT&T>Verizon>Comcast (or sprint depending on whether or not it is internet or phones)
Virgin>British Airways (GOOGLE IT!!!)
Jackie Chan >Chuck Norris
and intel kinda holds the monopoly on things at the moment...
oh... and all politics.
Why do they do it? I say it is a standard marketing technique popularized in America where good is not good enough. We must have either total control or no control at all. What do you say?

EDIT: i do like to make threads on these types of subjects, yes. also, forgot to add the bacon portion: how do you fry/cook your bacon and/or serve it?

PS3 > Xbob360. Meh, war started.

Kotipizza > Big mamas

I'm not sure what you mean (I mean, I know what you're trying to say, but the examples you listed seem like something out of an internet forum thread), but I don't see what is unethical about gaining an advantage over your competitor by saying that your product is better...if you can back it up.

Jackie Chan > Chuck Norris...wat?

Thanks for adding to it. also, cowboys>ninjas( <---- these guys win.)
In other news I asked what you think of the mudslinging and why you think they do it and how youook your bacon, not additions to the list even though it is appreciated.

Sorry about the double post. saw this after I posted. okay answer to your question: I do not have a problem with saying its better either, but it is more of the fact of pointing out obvious flaws on other's systems and exploiting it to make your product seem much better and theirs looks like a piece of crap somebody threw out. That is what bugs me.

Yeah, ok...I guess.

I don't have any problem with mud slinging as long as the information presented is factual. Although in reality it doesn't really bother me. :shrug:

I have no problem with that. if a flaw is obvious then it should be pointed out, if a competitor does it then that's much better. This drives competition, forces companies to do better. I fully support this, competition drives people or companies to excel, or at least outperform their competitors, which in the end, pays off for the smart consumer.

People pay attention to advertising?

I'm all for anything that kills Wal-Mart

Well, with situations like in DirecTV, they say things like (x) amount of channels that display HD are not always showing HD on dish network, which is kinda stupid to say because not all programs are HD. its when they poke holes. big obvious things likevista being horrible or macs being ultra expensive (no matter how big their screens are) also does not bother me. If you googles British Airways vs. Virgin atlantic, you would see what I mean. British Airways was losing so much money that they literally hacked into virgin's computers and made "problems" like missing luggage happen just so they could say that Virgin was actually unpredictable, even though it was not true.

Edit:I found a comedian (who I love) that pretty much tells my feelings about it pretty well. you can see the video http://comedians.jokes.com/brian-regan/videos/brian-regan---politics/

This. And it's not an American thing. It's been going on since before there was even an America.

Chuck Norris taught Jackie Chan everything he knows.

OMG, competition in business? Why can't all the companies be friends?

I can certainly relate to the Direct TV vs Dish Network deal.

I used to work as a sales rep for a Canadian cable company a few years ago. After telling them I actually design on the side and wanted to get into advertising (I'm working on my degree) they let me throw some ideas around with them at the head office which wasn't too far away.

The ad campaign propositions were gutless. Most of the time it wouldn't even consist of what was so good about us (the cable company), but what was so bad about the satellite company. I remember working on an illustrated campaign simply about how you have to cut down 100 trees to get a good satellite reception..I also remember making another mall poster about how unattractive satellite dishes are on the side of people's houses.

It was vicious.

I know it has, but it seems to have been more popularized here due to our (not mine but most politician's) low standards of honor and honesty. The florida governor has been convicted of fraud twice and is lining his pockets while he cuts our budget and says he is "balancing" the already balanced budget. He mudlinged his way through the election. Most of america seems to have that "nice guys finish last" mentality.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as they can back up their claims without lying in the process, it's fine. It's all part of competing as a business.

yes. i agree to a point. there are certain standards that no man should cross. as mike said before, the ad campaigns have no sense of honor or even honesty in some cases.

My TV/ISP does that, with commercials about how 40% of people who switch to Verizon FIOS switch back to this crappy internet service. What they don't tell you is that once you cancel their service, they will harass you over the telephone forever trying to get you to come back.

You can actually sue them for aggressive marketing with that. you know that, right?

Indeed. That's far from legal. At the very least notify the Better Business Bureau. They can raise awareness on this issue better than pretty much anyone else.

Also, on another note, did you hear awhile ago about how Mark Zuckerberg was selling personal information from people's Facebook accounts to third party companies? as soon as I heard that, I pulled my cell phone number off and my location and a week after that, i stopped getting bull(inaapropriate dialogue) texts that were asking me to get out of debt and all that... I am 16 and i know it is just a sham for them to get my credit card number, ruin my (nonexistent) credit and make it so i cannot do anything about it because the have my power of attorney and for them to leave, they want a large severance package. (man, im smart for a 16 year old...)

Never heard about that, but now I have yet another good reason to not post any personal info beyond my name and an e-mail I never check anymore to my Facebook.

The thing is, they're still the top rated ISP in my area, even with stuff like http://www.rateitall.com/i-25505-cablevision-optimum-online.aspx. Not only bad-mouthing Verizon, but cutting deals with the towns solely to push Verizon services out of the area. :down:

They would be, if enough people cave and join up just to stop the harassing phone calls.

That is pretty bad. Me, I run AT&T (used to be bellsouth, but that was taken over) The service is fine, the rates are okay compared to some, its pretty reliable, and its halfway fast. Overall, its okay. would I reccommend it? ah... i guess, but there is better out there. My family does not have an option unless we wanna pay $10,000 to run a cable line to our house. then we could get cable internet. on a bad day (i live in a rural area of town) my phone can be faster, and with that phone, sometimes i think i hear dial-up noises...