I'm sure you've seen them by now, the commercials announcing Overstock.com's new shortcut - O.co. ......... Yeah... seriously. Are we THAT lazy? We can't even type out a simple to remember website like overstock.com? And not even O.com - which isn't a currently existing website - so it's not like somebody already owns it. We can't even manage the "m" at the end of .com. How pathetic.

Is this really going to help them? Are people going to say "Gee, now that I have to type so many less letters to get there I'm going to shop there more!" Can't see that happening, can you? Do they believe shoppers are that stupid as well as lazy? Doesn't say much to me about them as a company or their feelings about their customers/target audience.

In fact, let's think about this: How much has this cost them? The new domain - the new .co thing - I have no idea if that costs. All the new advertising to promote the lazy-ass url. What could that money have been put towards instead? Oh! Here's a radical idea - how about lowering prices! No matter what they advertise I have never found their prices that great. Sure if you take the time to browse around you can find a good deal here and there, but it's hardly a bargain bonanza. To be honest, I've only ever ordered from them once - sheets. It was a good deal. Nice sale, not a huge savings over other sites, but I had a coupon and they were running a free shipping promotion. But I wouldn't have ordered otherwise since I found the same sheets for a little less somewhere else (but the coupon wasn't good for that site, so....)

Frankly, the only thing I use Overstock for is a barometer as to whether or not I've found a good price on an item somewhere else. If I'm looking for a shower gift etc., I'll look up what I want on Overstock (I refuse to call it O.co) and then use their price as an indication of whether or not I'm getting a good deal elsewhere. Hope you were paying attention to that. That means - if you can find it on their website, the odds are good (very good) that you will find it for less elsewhere.

But, if you are one of the dim-witted sheep that Overstock is appealing to (or trying to appeal to) apparently this doesn't matter you. Saving your fingers from the exhausting task of typing in those extra 9 letters is surely worth any premium you'll pay on products. (and you will pay)

So, congrats Overstock and whatever advertising/pr firm you are paying way too much for. You have either struck upon a great concept to attract the truly idiotic, yet well-heeled online shopper, or you've just spent a lot of money to make yourself look like a bunch of idiots with little respect for your customers.