Wednesday was a big day for Yahoo!.  They were able to tame the financial beast of Microsoft with a partnership that originally started as a takeover attempt by the software giant.

The announcement was a grand achievement of sound negotiating and long-term thinking.  With so much thought and money that went into the deal, why didn’t Yahoo spend more time on the messaging?

In describing the partnership and its impact for investors, Carol Bartz, the chief executive officer and a director of Yahoo! leveraged the message that the deal would result in “boatloads of money” for investors.

Whether she was consistent in her message or just said it once isn’t really the point.  Just do a quick Google, Bing or Yahoo! Search and you’ll see how popular her characterization has become.

I first became aware of Ms. Bartz’s “Boatloads” comment while watching the unflappable CNBC commentator David Faber chortling and wondering what kind of “boat” Ms. Bartz was referring to.

Was it a toy boat, canoe, paddleboat, cigarette boat, rowboat, oil tanker, cruise ship, container cargo ship?  It is hard to say. 
So many “boatload” visions of the Exxon Valdez surface (or should I say sink) when I read her comment.

Suffice it to say, whoever put “Boatload” on her talking points should be sent off in a dingy.

Photo of my two brothers-in-law on the Madison River in Montana bringing in a boatload of fish.