My first two “Ads I Hate” posts seem to have struck a nerve (1, 2). You folks really hate the consumerist mentality these ads promote. From the e-mail and comments I received, it seems that you especially loathe the “Life takes VISA” ad campaign.
Nick pointed me to this ad featuring the New Orleans Saints:
I think the point of is pretty clear: all the hip folks use VISA, and only the outdated preppy man uses cash. This next commercial is even worse:
The engine of commerce hums and glows until our Everyman stoops to pay with cash. His action clogs the gears of progress. Give me a break. I don’t know about your experience, but in my world it’s actually quicker to pay with cash than it is to pay with VISA, regardless of whether I’m using credit or debit.
This demonization of cash is just one reason these are prime examples of ads I hate.
Have you seen an ad that promotes consumerism or poor personal finance? Drop me a line!
This article is about Credit Cards, Odds and Ends, Shopping
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[...] Rich Slowly: Looks like I’m not the only who hates certain ads and who plays tricks on [...]
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In this context speed + safety = convenience BUT speed and safety can actually contradict so that makes it tough to decide which is the more convenient way.
Speed-wise: Cash is faster than using any card, card is faster than writing a check.
Safety-wise: Card is safer than a check (assuming that your bank will replace all stolen money/card) and check is safer than cash (you at least stand a chance to fight with a lost check)
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The music in the second ad is Raymond Scott.
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Credit and Debit cards are a pain in the ass. Okay, I admit I will happily pay for stuff on my debit card, but at work it takes about three times as long to process a credit card as it does to whack cash in the drawer, even if the customer needs change. That’s especially true if the customer can’t remember their PIN, if they have to sign, or if I’m trying to put a card through at the same time as another cashier. Plus, I have to put a surcharge on for transactions under a fiver, so why use plastic for small purchases?
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My dad and I were talking about this “clog progress” commercial, but VISA missed the boat when it came to us. What we saw were a bunch of cogs in a machine, mindlessly throwing down their VISAs to pay for everything. I’d rather be the outsider paying with cash, thinking for myself.
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Not to get too sociological, but I always thought the NoLA Saints ad was a tad offensive on a different level. I don’t think it’s about hip/cool vs preppy. I think the juxtaposition is manly football vs girly/gay man with a pink sweater.
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As always, the reason why I don’t use credit cards is because of Where’s George. I just love tracking dollar bills with that website.
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I’m wondering if its a start to get us used to the idea of no cash, as someone mentioned above.
Not so much that the credit companies get their extra cut but so that, coming soon, we won’t notice how many zeros are behind our “dollars” when the FED’s out-of-control printing draws the last dying breath out of our currency. One doesn’t notice inflation so much on a receipt as when you have to take a barrow full of cash to purchase a loaf of bread.
Germany, Japan, Former Soviet Union, Venezuela, Zimbabwe…
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I also hate the Visa ads (especially the Saints one). So does everyone I have watched football with this season.
Obviously, the blatant message that cash-users are ninnies is offensive enough, but did you catch the more subtle suggestion buried in the slogan itself?
“Life Takes Visa.” Most people probably interpret “takes” as “accepts”, the way a store accepts a credit card. Life Accepts Visa.
But you could also interpret “takes” as “requires”, as in, “my car takes premium gas.” If you understand it that way, the slogan is, “Life REQUIRES Visa.” Now folks, that is scary.
J.D., can you do a separate “Ads I Hate” for Best Buy? They are aiming for an all-time low this Christmas. The one where the family skips visiting Grandma to open their Best Buy boxes makes me sad, and the one with the 13-year-old girl on the cellphone makes me want to throw something. Oddly, neither of them make me want to shop at Best Buy.
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drhands, I agree 100%
It made me fondly remember an Evening Shades episode where the parents realize that their kids are acting like spoiled hell-spawn, and donate all the Christmas gifts, unopened to charity.
Why not a commercial with the kids giving the mom a/o grandma a Big Blue Box for putting up with them?
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I was wondering if anyone has seen the new Life Takes Visa commercial witht he dancers dancing away in the line…. LOLLLLL, if ever I see a bunch of people dancing “synchronized” in line, I’ll cut my visa card in half (i probably won’t). Also, if anyone knows the song to that commercial,it would be appreciated, too!
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One of my many pet peeves at work is people who use credit/debit cards when there are 10 people in line. Cash is (usually) SO much faster.
Another pet peeve is people (usually panhandlers and brokesters raiding the penny jar) paying with pocketfuls of small change. That is much worse (slower) than using a credit card. One time I had several of them on one shift and ended up with $3 in loose pennies.
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[...] Ads I Hate: Life Takes VISA – I agree with JD on this one. I really hate ads like this that promote the consumerist mentality, and that imply that you’re not hip and cool if you don’t put all your purchases on your VISA card. (from Get Rich Slowly) [...]
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I actually think McDonald’s is one of the worst ad makers. First there is their “let target a specific key demographic” commercials which I find borderline offensive.
But then there is the latest ad where a young man inherits a English roadster from his Grandfather and then promptly sells it because he can’t reach the McDonald’s bag at the drive through. This commercial makes me sick whenever I see it. (I tried to find this on YouTube and was unsuccessful.)
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I know this comment will be lost in the shuffle, but I have to throw it out there.
I will never understand the claims that paying with cash helps prevent “poor personal finance” while paying with a debit card does not. Cash is easy to spend and hard to keep track of. Every time I swipe my debit card I have an electronic record of my purchase to go along with any receipt. You can download debit card transactions to a spreadsheet or Quicken with the push of a button. With cash, you need to save your receipt and enter it manually later. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Debit cards are the way to go.
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That second ad always drives me crazy when I see it. I have enough anxiety about the cashier and people in line behind me breathing down my neck no matter how I’m paying. Like we need to speed up things any more.
I do like the music, though.
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I saw an ad on the drive-through window at a Taco Bell that exhorted me to come back for “4th Meal – the meal between supper and breakfast.” I was horrified that this place was asking me to spend money on more than one meal there per day, and also that they were encouraging an even greater caloric intake.
I sent a complaint to their contact spot on their web site, but they never responded.
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I run a register for a living and I hate Visa and all the other cards. Really stresses me out when they hand you more then one card that is “declined” which is code for maxed out and I have to tell them- they seldom respond well.
Or worse yet when you get the error code “take card.” I work in a Christian book store and had that happen with a Pastor and was very obviously a system error on the credit card company- he just got the card! Wasn’t that fun to explain to my boss and the Pastor in front of a store full of people!
In fact if I have someone hand me more then 2 cards that don’t go through I often will suggest that we do take cash or checks.
Then there’s the whole crash and reboot the server when one refuses to go through right – that takes the whole store off line for about 5 minutes. Always happens at Christmas time when we are slammed at the register!
Customers also get jerked out of place when they see their card number and expire date on the store copy of the receipt that they have to sign…as if we should not have a back up to cover our losses if the system crashes or keep the IRS off our back if they decide to audit. People don’t think about that part.
And the ones that set these rules is not the one that runs the register.
Cash is so much easier to deal with and easier to keep you out of debt. When the green stuff is gone- your done spending!Its fast & simple.
I tell my kids that Loans and credit card companies only “rent” you money.
But it costs more then its worth in the end.
I’ve worked retail all my life and if I ever saw another credit card again- it would be too soon!
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To NeoteriX: The song in the second ad is called “Powerhouse” by Raymond Scott. Should be familiar to all those who watched Bugs Bunny cartoons.
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Life takes VISA is a bogus campaign.
It tries to advertise that VISA card is better than cash, but everyone knows that Cash is ofcourse better to avoid any problems !
I hate Visa !
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I am sure that all pro-VISA card writers are VISA employees or getting paid by VISA…:)
I hate VISA !!
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