An online video directing college students and recent graduates with debt to contact West Virginia's consumer protection hotline when necessary is being criticized by the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, whose executive director said he's offended by the video.
The video was posted on Facebook by Charleston, W.Va.-area band The Carpenter Ants, which does the music in the video. Attorney General Darrell McGraw's office produced the video.
"We were aiming for a different demographic to get younger people that don't know about the services of the Attorney General's Office, that the mediation is free and to promote our 800 number," Fran Hughes, West Virginia's chief deputy attorney general told the Charleston Daily Mail. "There are a lot of young people who are in a financial crisis and they don't know where to turn.
Hughes told the Daily Mail that the video cost about $2,500 to make and was produced in-house.
The video's storyline includes a collection agent, a loan shark and a good guy named "The Badge." He chases the collector around Charleston.
"Debt, debt, got me on my knees," the band sings in the video. "Darrell McGraw, can you help me please? My future sure looks bleak; without some help I will surely sink into a sea of bankruptcy."
"Makes no difference if they're big or small, General McGraw, he can whoop 'em all ... just like the tobacco companies. He's looking out for you and me.
McGraw appears in the video to offer some advice to "The Badge." "Book 'em, Darrell," "The Badge" says as he enters McGraw's office. "You know, the way I see it, son, the Attorney General's Office doesn't run around like a bunch of clowns," McGraw tells him.
Richie Heath, executive director at the West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, criticized the venture, "Darrell McGraw's latest video junket might be funny if it wasn't such a sad waste of taxpayer money. With McGraw up for re-election in 2012, it looks like West Virginians will once again be bombarded with state-funded advertisements promoting McGraw's political campaign."
Hughes said the video was posted last week.
"It's creating a buzz, so we want to do a formal launch to try to get people interested in looking," Hughes told the Daily Mail. "We're not paying any money for any promotion of it. It stands on its own."
