Say It Ain’t So, Jo-Jo

In a move that most monkey observers find appalling, CareerBuilder.com has announced that, after two years of faithful service, they will be axing their commercials of the chimps in the office. This is the thanks the animals get, for lifting CareerBuilder past Monster.com as the preeminent job-hunting website, and bringing in $500 million in revenues in the first nine months of 2006. Besides jealousy, why do the humans in charge feel the need to get rid of the chimps?

“Obviously, we’ve created an amazing fan base,” said Cynthia McIntyre, senior director of advertising for CareerBuilder. “We’ve had great success with them, but if you think about the game of branding, advertising and buzz, it’s a popularity contest. It’s [been] the same joke, the same punch line. The name of the game is to be talk-worthy, buzz-worthy.”

Don’t you just want to fling some poop at this idiot? Aside from the fact that she’s in advertising, she actually coined the phrase “talk-worthy” in a sentence.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Tribune, which owns CareerBuilder, put up a click poll to see if people will miss the monkeys. As of this writing, eighty-four percent said they will miss them. You hear that, Trib? Eighty-four percent! No wonder no one wants to bid on you.

For one last fond look at our office (pri)mates, go to the Trib website and check out the video. Not suitable for work, because you’ll probably start crying in the middle of it.