When I first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area as a little kid, one of the first things I ever saw on television was the local Furniture USA commercial. The commercial was simple: a pudgy, middle-aged man named Ed Barbara would shout at the camera about how easy it was to get credit, and how he wanted more customers. No co-signers. No credit references.
Even as a youngster, it was clear to me the guy sold shitty merchandise at full price and promptly repossessed it when his destitute customers couldn’t make their payments. Turns out Mr. Barbara was a cheating scumbag (surprise!), went on to commit a couple of big securities frauds, and ultimately died on the lam in………where else?………..Florida.
Anyway, commercials from almost forty years ago don’t exactly keep me awake at night, but I was reminded of Furniture USA instantly when I saw America’s own Lawrence Kudlow on Friday (the video isn’t the greatest, but it’s the only shareable one I could find).
Bye, kids!
