In January 2009, I started a new feature called “Tone Deaf Ad of the Week.” Since every financial services firm out there felt like it should advertise but had little to no idea what to say, there was a vast selection.

The first ad I picked on came from Bessemer Trust boasting the enormous headline, “We invest our money right alongside yours...”  First off, my portfolio is in the tank and you’ve kicked off an ad talking about yourself.  More importantly, hadn’t the gruesome Fall/Winter of 2008 proven that idiots and jerks may in fact invest their own money unwisely and take themselves down right along with you?  Next!

Next came yesterday, in fact, with a new full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal.  The headline? “Right now, you have two choices, sink or swim.”  Why yes, it’s about me, the investor, thank you.  And the text, while too long, is more thoughtful – more mindful of what’s occurred in the last several months.  The company still insists on that “we invest our money right alongside yours” thing but the ad is a solid player.

So hats off to Bessemer for having the most improved, formerly tone dead ad of the week.  Keep it up!