AnnualCreditReport.com commercial parodies poke fun at FreeCreditReport.com

Posted by Joe on April 6th, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just published two new commercial length web videos to publicize AnnualCreditReport.com on the web. The videos are a non-so-subtle jab at the popular FreeCreditReport.com commercials from Experian that feature a band whose lead singer frequently laments the downside of having poor credit.

While it is humorous to see the FTC lampoon Experian's commercials, it is important to note that the services provided by AnnualCreditReport.com and FreeCreditReport.com are very different. For example:

• AnnualCreditReport.com allows consumers to order one free credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each year.
• The credit reports ordered from AnnualCreditReport.com do not include credit scores.
• AnnualCreditReport.com does not provide any type of monitoring for your credit. This means that you could go a whole year without knowing about changes to your credit report if you solely rely on your free AnnualCreditReport.com credit reports.

On the other hand, FreeCreditReport.com offers:

• A free Experian credit report and Experian credit score upon sign up for a free seven day trial of three bureau credit monitoring. You do need to use a credit card to sign up for your free trial of FreeCreditReport.com but, whether you decide to stick around or not, your free credit report and score are yours to keep.
• Three bureau credit monitoring of your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit files with 24×7 email alerts if any changes are detected. This ensures that you know about any changes to your report at the earliest possible moment.

AnnualCreditReport.com is a valuable service, but we don't believe that consumers should solely rely on one credit report per bureau per year to gauge their credit health. A three bureau credit report monitoring service is vital to staying informed on the state of your credit.

You can learn more about FreeCreditReport.com and other credit report monitoring services by reading our reviews and comparison of credit report monitoring services.

You can see both of the FTC's new AnnualCreditReport.com commercials below:

• Reader Question: Am I entitled to a free credit report each year?
• FreeCreditReport.com offers 30 day trial of the cheapest three bureau credit monitoring service
• Equifax offers free 3-in-1 credit report and 3 bureau credit report monitoring
• Reader Questions: Is there a free on line credit report service that has no trial or any other hidden fees?
• I am trying to select the best credit report monitoring service for my needs and have questions. Can I call you?