Despite Comcast's Effort to Swing the Vote with Employee Participation, Disgruntled Consumers Emerge Victorious and Advance the Company

NEW YORK, March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – All 32 companies in Consumerist.com's sixth annual "Worst Company in America" tournament irritated consumers in some way this year, and it's no shock that top-seeded BP and Bank of America are advancing, but the most popular match-up of the first round featured none other than 2010 Grand Champion, Comcast. The fan favorite received a whopping 83 percent of the vote in their heavily-trafficked match-up against Charter Communications, cementing their spot in the Sweet 16.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110325/DC71777 )

Time Warner Cable and its checkered past of poor customer service has emerged as an early contender in the competition, beating out Facebook's privacy issues and massive network of more than half a billion users. Heavy fan favorite BP also had a strong showing in the early round and won over 90 percent of the votes in its battle against Toyota.

The 'Worst Company in America' is a parody of the NCAA basketball tournament, currently taking place. Each week, companies go head-to-head in the single elimination tournament and will be knocked out by Consumerist.com visitors' votes until a Grand Champion is named on April 18.  Consumers can log-on to Consumerist.com today to vote in the first match-up of the Sweet 16 between Bank of America or DirecTV, live at 3:00 p.m. EDT. Throughout the next two weeks consumers will see Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Walmart, among others fight for the glory of the following round – the Elite Eight which kicks off on April 6.

"We are looking forward to finding out if there are any Cinderella stories this year in addition to watching marquee match-ups like Apple versus AT&T," said Meghann Marco, Executive Editor of Consumerist.com. "Last year Apple made it to the Elite 8, can the company overcome the momentum AT&T gained by announcing its intention to merge with T-Mobile?"

Consumers can check back regularly at Consumerist.com for updated brackets and voting opportunities throughout the month of March and April.  The 2011 Grand Champion in Consumerist.com's "Worst Company in America" will receive the prestigious Golden Poo Award, a golden statuette modeled after a pile of poo.

Upcoming elimination dates:

• April 6 – Elite 8
• April 12 – Final Four
• April 14 – Championship Battle
• April 18 – Winner!

Ready? Set? Play ball! 2011 Sweet Sixteen are…

Click here for direct link to bracket.

Here are the Sweet 16 match-ups:

About Consumerist.com

The Consumerist's parent company, Consumer Media LLC, is a subsidiary of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, and ConsumerReports.org, and the nation's leading not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization. Since its founding in 1936, Consumers Union has fought for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. To maintain independence and impartiality, CU accepts neither outside advertising nor free samples. It employs a staff of "mystery shoppers" who buy products in retail stores around the country, just as any other buyer would, and then ship them to the Consumers Union labs, where technical experts test some 3,000 products yearly. 

SOURCE Consumerist.com