The people who run US Bank think you are stupid.
They think you are greedy, and they believe you have learned nothing from the financial meltdown of the past two years.
According to a report this week from the Associated Press, the worst is not over for our economy. The AP reports "Foreclosures will peak by the end of next year and unemployment will climb above
10 percent as the housing market and U.S. economy grapple with the aftermath of
the recession, the Mortgage Bankers Association's chief economist said Tuesday."
The people who run US Bank believe you are still thinking like my old neighbors back in Tampa. They bought a nice home across the street from us for $240,000. It was appraised, of course, much higher -- over $300,000. So this nice couple -- convinced by the bank that they could use the house as their own ATM machine -- took out a loan for the full amount of appraisal, then went out and blew the cash on two white Hummers -- one for him and one for her.
Before we moved from Tampa, the guy lost his job and his wife's business (self-owned) wasn't doing well. Their son was graduating from high school. They moved out of the home because it was facing foreclosure. They moved to Orlando. Just before we left, one of the Hummers was parked in the front driveway of their now-empty home, sitting and waiting for the repo man to come pick it up. The house was no longer worth what they paid for it.
I'll never forget the evening the wife knocked on our door, asking if we were interested in buying the house. It was a great house with a pool -- very classy design -- but I had just lost my job and we were making plans to leave Florida and return to the Quad Cities. We told her this and she stood there shaking her head. "We're almost homeless," she said sadly. "We don't have any choice except to live in our car or move in with relatives."
This scene has been played out across the nation millions of times -- families decimated and futures ruined by greedy lending practices and shady home loans that put people in danger just to rake in a little more money. Americans agreed to gamble with their homes and believed that anytime they wanted a vacation or a new car, just get a second mortgage or re-finance the home and instant gratification could be yours!
How has that worked out for us?
That's why it is infuriating when a bank such as US Bank throws ethics out the window and pushes a TV ad campaign urging people to get a second mortgage or re-finance their homes so they can enjoy the good life now -- and the video shows people taking vacations, playing golf, on the beach in a wetsuit -- exactly the behavior that got everyone into trouble in the first place.
Someone -- or several people -- need to lose their jobs at US Bank. Anyone who approved this campaign should go. It's a slap across the face of a hurting nation at a time when more jobs are being lost because of the domino effect of the housing collapse. Every week, we hear of more layoffs in the community. I suppose US Bank would urge people to throw caution to the winds -- use your home as an ATM and go on vacation. You deserve a vacation!
I guess I'm a little steamed over this because there are good PR and marketing people who would give good advice to this company -- that caring about people and helping them in a time of deep community need and anxiety is a much better way to build a brand than encouraging people to continue gambling and living the fast life. I can't imagine that nobody objected to this TV campaign. If someone did object, that person should be leading the marketing for US Bank.
If nobody objected because their VP or President likes the campaign and you dare not question the VP or President, they're in deeper trouble than any PR or marketing person can change. And if an ad agency came up with this, it would be the last time I used that agency.
The best advertising and marketing is based on how you can help your customers. This unethical, blind-to-reality approach is the antithesis of what a community bank should be about. In the end, it's about gambling with your home.
Have we learned nothing from the past two years? Obviously, the folks who run US Bank have not. It's time for the creators of this campaign to spend some time in the unemployment line, worrying about making ends meet. Perhaps then they'll understand how insulting and insensitive this campaign truly is for the people watching it on TV.
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