Ameritrade

Stewart is back!

During the dot-com boom era, electronic stock trading companies were big business. Along with this big business came big advertising. A favorite was for Ameritrade, an online broker whose ads featured a red-haired fellow named Stewart. Though he was a consummate slacker, Stewart's technical skill was unimpeachable. The early Ameritrade ads featured Stewart guiding his boss, "Mr. P," through the simple and fun process of investing in securities over the internet.

This campaign was wildly successful, with Bill Clinton's 2000 White House Press Dinner short movie featuring a brief spoof on the ads featuring Stewart himself.

The best news I've had since power came back came to me in a new Ameritrade ad this afteroon.

Stewart and Mr. P are back!

Today, the student surpassed the master, as Mr. P taught Stewart about an all new investing service offered by the brokerage. Stewart was duly impressed.

It's easy to screw up an ad like this, but I found it enjoyable. It was like meeting up with old friends, seeing such a happy reminder of our days of dot-com innocence.

Thanks, Ameritrade.