Bank Of America, Monsanto, Verizon Move On To Next Round Of Worst Company Competition

After three days of Worst Company In America voting, nine big businesses lie battered and bloody on the sandpaper mat of the WCIA Dodecahedron of Doom. But we are not here to mourn the fallen, but to hurl rotting fruit at the victors who survive to fight another day.

Scroll down to check out updated bracket. Round One voting will resume Monday morning.

BANK OF AMERICA VS. EXPERIAN

BofA already has a Golden Poo trophy it inherited when it acquired Countrywide Financial, and we’re sure the statue is polished regularly and occupies a place of pride next to CEO Brian Moynihan’s certificate of participation in the local darts league. Other than that, the big bad bank only has three consecutive runner-up finishes to its name. While that’s nothing to shake a stick at, BofA obviously hungers for a Poo it can truly call its own. It has gotten off to a good start this year, beating the credit-reporting, big-data bureaucrats at Experian with more than 74% of the vote.

Up next for BofA: The winner of next week’s first-round showdown between American Airlines and Lululemon.

MONSANTO VS. WELLS FARGO

WCIA voters had to choose between a bank that has been getting sued a lot or a seed giant that has made a name for itself by seemingly suing just about everyone it can. In the end, readers opted to slap Worst Company newcomer Monsanto upside the head with a cornstalk, giving the company 69.1% of the votes. Considering Monsanto’s love of suing farmers whose crops become tainted with its genetically modified seeds, we wouldn’t be shocked if the company sued Consumerist readers who accidentally slipped and voted for Wells Fargo.

Monsanto’s resolve will be put to the test when it faces off in the second round against the victor of the upcoming Citi vs. Sears/Kmart battle.

VERIZON VS. eBAY/PAYPAL

In this week’s closest match, it was Verizon — which some people hate as a wireless company, a phone company, and a cable/Internet provider — against the two-headed monster of eBay and PayPal. The early going of the bout was deadlocked, with voters unable to come to a consensus on which company deserved to move onto the next round, but then Verizon gradually began to pull away from eBay/PayPal, ultimately taking 54.5% of the vote.

Was the tight result an indicator that both companies are almost equally despised or just a sign of voter indifference? We’ll find out for sure when Verizon takes on the victor of the AT&T vs. Microsoft bout to come later in Round One.

We’re more than halfway through the first round of the tournament. Voting will return on Monday morning!

In the meantime, here is the most up-to-date bracket:

by Chris Morran via Consumerist