Dick Clark must be a happy guy this morning.

A new poll published in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says the drugmaker’s rep is higher this year. Of 60 companies ranked in a Harris Interactive Poll, Merck ranked 39th. The year before, the scandal-plagued company was only 45th.

That’s not too shabby. After all, Merck is still way ahead of Halliburton, which placed last, and several big oil companies, which are accused of price gouging, and big insurers that are haggling over Katrina claims.

Then again, this is another case of ‘Been Down So Long, Looks Like Up to Me.’ After Vioxx, things couldn’t get much worse for Merck. So before Clark gets too pleased, he should remember that No. 39 isn’t No. 1, which was grabbed by Microsoft, which bumped Johnson & Johnson from the top spot (a little philanthropy can go a long way in some minds).

[tags]Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Vioxx[/tags]