Bankers Come Clean in Ads About Dirty Secrets

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-America's First Credit Union has created a series of commercials in which bankers come clean about their sins, although they don't seek forgiveness.

The spots all use similar creative in which a booth on a city sidewalk is labeled "Banker Confessions Taken Here." In each an individual banker pulls back the curtain and takes a seat and then addresses the camera. Says one man, "OK, so we keep pushing our credit card rates higher and higher. And people keep paying them, every month. It's crazy. But you do get some perks for paying our higher rates. No, actually you don't get jack squat." He then chuckles. In another spot, a woman says, "I'm kind of a hero down at the bank right now. We're under all this pressure from our stockholders, so my idea was to jack up fees and cut back services. Did it work? Well, let's just say I'm having my lunch in the executive dining room now."

All the spots conclude with a narrator saying, "Unlike a bank, America's First is a not-for-profit owned by its members with no or low fees, lower rates on loans and higher rates on deposits, and joining is easy. Refreshingly unbanklike. Become an America's First member today."