BofAI don’t know if you’re familiar with the acronym , but in marketing-speak it’s what we call “word of mouth,” which has become one of those marketing buzzwords like and . Sure, everyone knows what word of mouth is, but there are people who are paid to manage it for companies, or at least to try to manage it.

It’s the sort of thing that can get out of hand. After all, nobody owns the interweb tubes, and despite the efforts of some, public opinion is pretty hard to tame. That’s the situation the venerable currently finds itself in.

is reporting on a huge customer service gaffe on the part of a Bank of America branch. As word has spread about it, people have been closing down their BofA accounts to express their disgust, to the tune of about $50 million.

And then there’s the video below, of a couple of BofA folks performing their version of U2’s “One,” with lyrics extolling the glory and wonder of their mastery of the world of credit cards (which BofA actually invented, by the way) as they absorb competitor after competitor. The headline of its page on YouTube describes it as “funny/terrible,” but I have to admit, the guy has a good voice. What’s funny/terrible about it is the concept of singing with passion about the credit card business, and the way these guys are dressed. It makes me want to shake them by the shoulders and angrily scream BANKER at them. It’s kind of like the way the space hippies called people “Herbert” in that Star Trek episode.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYg_7e3X54]

There’s one thing that it seems many people don’t know about BofA. That abbreviated version of the bank’s name is pronounced “B of A” by most, but some of us prefer the single word “Bofa,” and that just happens to be a word of celebration in the Zulu language. Just imagine a bar in Soweto, full of fans watching a World Cup match between South Africa and the hated Italians. Italy is favored to win, and moved ahead with three early goals, but the South Africans are making a comeback. Every time the goal tender makes a save, the crowd shouts “Bofa!” With each goal by the South Africans, the shouts of “Bofa” grow louder, until the game is won when a player from the Townships makes a miraculous penalty kick and the whole nation shakes with screams of “Bofa!“

It’s true. Would I lie?

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