B of A’s Armacost Tries Radio Ad Blitz to Discount Rumors

“And now, a message from Sam Armacost. . . .”

Thousands of California radio listeners will hear those words this week as Bank of America’s chief executive takes to the airwaves to quash rumors about the bank’s financial health and assure bank depositors and shareholders that the nation’s second-largest bank is not going under.

In a massive two-day radio commercial campaign, the bank is saturating California with the 60-second spot, which features Armacost trying to be at once combative and reassuring.

The advertisement is running in every major radio market in the state. It will be heard on 13 Los Angeles stations, 12 in San Francisco and 7 in San Diego. “First of all, I’m not a radio announcer, but there’s something you should know that’s so important I wanted to tell you myself,” Armacost begins. “Last week, rumors about B of A were apparently started by speculators. Rumors which are unfounded and unfair to our customers, shareholders and employees.”

Armacost does not repeat the rumors, which had the bank on the brink of bankruptcy, or about to be merged with another U.S. bank, or receiving secret help from the Federal Reserve, or ready to dump Armacost as chief executive. The rumors were denied by the bank and federal regulators, but they drove the bank’s stock price to a 20-year low.

Armacost then offers listeners “the facts,” detailing the bank’s size, capital position and strength in both the California consumer market and international money markets. He does not remind listeners of the nearly $1 billion in losses that the bank has suffered in the past year.

“Just one more fact,” Armacost concludes. “At B of A, we want the job, and no rumor is going to stop us from doing it right.”