While you're toxic approach was really not a good start to your suggestion: it's fine. Just avoid it completely in future if you can. It makes people less inclined to take it seriously.
I have since replied to the thread once more, and I would like to give you a few recommendations if you'll take them. First one being that if you're a supporter of minimalist design, I would advise chopping down the bookmarks bar (or learning the shortcut to toggle the bar), and avoid any toolbars in general. Firefox is fine, but it's not the best designed browser in the world. I would recommend Chrome, but I know how the jump to a new browser can be. It has all the same extensions, with more support, and more security. In general it's the most popular browser for a reason. It's a matter of personal preference however.
Last suggestion is that if you're still really bothered by elements of any webpage, the extension AdBlock can be used to disable them. It doesn't just block out ads, you can use it to cut out web page elements. So in theory you could hide Forum Splashes permanently if you really wanted to.