BoA to change tagline

+ Bank of America is to phase out "Higher Standards" tagline. There was always something that struck my gut as being slightly off about that tagline. Ask me to put my finger on the exact reason, I suppose I would probably have to agree with one of the following statements from the article.

But recently, Bank of America marketing executives decided that it was time to phase it out. [snip]
Another reason is that benefit is no longer at the top of consumers' minds. The "Higher Standards" slogan was introduced in the aftermath of Enron and a wave of Wall Street scandals. The phrase replaced "Embracing Ingenuity," the Bank of America's tagline at the time. But today, in the era of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, some branding experts suggest, regulatory compliance is as expected as online bill payment or a free checking account.

Others say that "Higher Standards" seems too much of a relative phrase. Whose standards are Bank of America's higher than anyway? Higher than the Securities and Exchange Commission or the New York attorney general? Higher than rivals, like Wachovia or Citi? Higher than, well, a higher authority?

I guess this last bit is what bothered me about it. I suppose as a large corporation that was eating up other banks it was to imply that they may be large but still maintained a set of standards, but in many ways it's hard for a statement like that to ring true for a large corporation with the preconcieved notions many consumers have about "big business". It will be interesting to see where they go from here.