Here, rolling into a holiday weekend, I took time to remember brothers-in-arms, who had fallen along the way. One of the funniest things I have ever seen a company in eSourcing do, was when PurchasePro launched a TV ad campaign. I will always remember standing in my kitchen with CNN on and the ad came on.

It had a bunch of goofy actors standing in a room (looking like they just hit the lottery) and one was standing at a podium with a auctioneers gavel. During the 30 second spot, PPRO put our industry’s credibility back 5 years and it looked like the ad was filmed with a camcorder in a one day shoot. It is one of the WORST commercials ever made. I really dont think any one can argue with me on that. Not only was it low budget, but it made no sense and I only understood because I knew what PurchasePro did.

I remember my initial reactions (after shock and amazement) were to think:

• O My God, these guys are making so much money they are advertising during Aaron Brown??? That lasted about 60 seconds. Then came..
• These guys are idiots, this will never work.

Ultimately, I think the results speak for themselves. I am dying to know if any one else ever saw those commercials and what they thought. It was a classic moment in the history of supply management.