• Wall Street Journal, Friday, October 2, 2009 10:45 AM

Verizon FiOS has been running a series of commercials reminiscent of the Mac/PC guy spots that always wind up with The Cable Guy looking dumb or pathetic. In the latest I've seen, the FiOS Guy and the Cable Guy are getting feedback from a focus group on why the FiOS-feed picture makes the TV screen look like it's "new."

The Cable's Guy's reaction to all the customers' plaudits for FiOS is: "I was curious why we're listening to customers ... seems dumb." "Oh boy," the FiOS Guys responds in a voice that suggests that this time the Cable Guy has really bitten off more than he can chew.

Now, Lilly Vitorovich reports from London this morning that the U.K. supermarket business of Wal-Mart, Asda Group Ltd., is going to henceforth consult its customers on every aspect of its business from product development to packaging. Asda CEO and president Andy Bond is trying to differentiate the chain from rivals who have attempting to "buy" customer loyalty with plastic points or discount vouchers.

"My ambition for Asda is to actively involve customers in every aspect of the business, to lift the lid on how we do things, and enable our customers to help make decisions that have an impact on what we sell and how we sell it," Bond says. Bond also introduced a blog, "Aisle Spy," that "takes you behind the scenes at Asda."

Oh, boy. A real-life "The Office" ?

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