As I watched a segment about AIG on 60 minutes last Sunday, I couldn’t help but think of things Ed Liddy could buy with the one dollar salary he’s accepting as compensation for taking on one of the hairiest messes in modern financial history. Below are some ideas, and my eventual choice. Feel free to comment if you have any good ones.

A Newspaper
If Liddy wanted, he could go out and buy himself a newspaper. On the plus side, he’d be able to check his horoscope, try the crosswords (What’s a three-letter acronym for “financial debacle”), and get up to date on any news that could affect AIG. On the down side, he’d be beaten over the head with criticisms, pressure, and negativity. Besides, I’d speculate that, even in such crisis, the taxpayer..err I mean AIG…still picks up the tab for executive newspaper subscriptions.

A Lottery TicketPerhaps, with some luck, he could win a million bucks (Odds are around 1 in 195,249,054 on a Powerball drawing). Then AIG would only owe Uncle Sam…well…they’d still owe a lot. Considering AIG’s 180 billion dollar debt, a lottery win for Liddy wouldn’t even be a brick in the wall.

A Pack of GumOkay, a cheap pack of gum. I’d suggest the old-school pack of juicy fruit, but that’s just me. Does Ed Liddy smoke? Has Ed Liddy ever smoked? I don’t know (I googled my face off trying to figure it out), but I can guarantee you he’s going to need something to cope with the stress of having much of the hope for the country, and possibly the world’s, economic recovery placed squarely on his shoulders. This may not help the company’s financial situation or PR position, but it would at least give Liddy an alternative to the all-too-inevitable chain-smoking that, I would imagine, comes with the job.

A Wendy’s Value Menu Double-Stack Cheeseburger
Oh yea, I said it. It’s 3-conomics baby. In all seriousness though, Ed Liddy should buy this cheeseburger. I know the suggestions in this article have gotten progressively sillier, but I’m being serious with this one. If I’m Ed Liddy, I’m thinking, “Hmm..what’s a way that I could spend this dollar to make a little scratch for AIG while improving our public image?” If I’m a Wendy’s ad exec I’m thinking, “Hmm..how could I take this home-run '3-conomics' ad campaign and make it a grad-slam?” Eureka! Liddy should engage Wendy’s to feature him in an extension of the 3-conomics ad campaign that show’s Liddy buying a Double Stack with his one-dollar salary. The ad could, with humor, explain who Ed Liddy is, why he only has a dollar, and how much he loves “3-conomics”.

Wendy’s Gets: A relevant theme to cap off it’s “3-conomics” campaign and a gimmick that could very well generate enough buzz to propel the campaign into viral exposure status.

Liddy Gets: A couple million for the endorsement deal to throw at AIG’s mountain of debt, the public good will from subtlety highlighting the fact that he is “the good guy” who is making a sacrifice to get AIG back on track, and, last but certainly not least, a tasty, juicy, cheesy, delicious Double-Stack.
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Steve Tatum

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