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Talk about a buzzkill: next time you go to the movies, it’s likely that you’ll get lectured about how to handle your credit cards. I’m not kidding. The Federal Reserve announced it is sponsoring 45-second advertisements in movie theaters with tips to help shoppers avoid unnecessary credit card charges and fees. (Like, duh, pay on time and don’t go over the credit limit.) The PSAs already have begun appearing before movie previews at 12 highly attended theaters in major metropolitan areas during the holidays. Several Federal Reserve Banks will make consumer literature available in the theater lobbies. Here’s an idea: watch these ads, go see The Road, and then look for a rope and a tree.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Because the alternative–coke commercials and shitty trailers–isn’t painful at all.
Fucking banks betting value in derivitives without producing any goods or services get bailouts for their debts and everyday americans get bullshit propaganda telling them to buckle down and play by the rules. Call your Congressman and tell them to audit the fed and stop Bernanke”s confirmation.
Even as a fan of your writing, I have to disagree with you on this one.
After years of pandering to, and empowering the credit card industry (ie. allowing the arbitrary changing of interest rates, due dates etc.) – it’s nice to see the government trying to reach out and educate the people carrying trillions of dollars of debt.
No matter how simplistic the message, if it has a positive effect on one credit card carrying audience member, especially a young one, then that seems like a pretty easy trade off to accept for less than a minute before the trailers start.
All the best
Lou
Lou, the federal reserve bank has nothing to do with the government. It is a privatly run entity.
Tho it is a good idea for many people out there to hear what they are going to say, I feel like they are the cause in the first place….
I’m sorry, but if you somehow reached an age where you are allowed to apply for a credit card and haven’t figured out that there are penalties for being late or not paying….Well, then you have a lot more problems than penalties and late fees from the credit card companies that no advertisement can fix.
“The Fed” lecturing Americans on responsible credit card use?!
BWA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
Seriously!
Exacto-Mundo.
& the Fed is desperate to look like the peoples’ friend. But it is only a fiend.
Yes, that’s funny.
“Don’t do as I do, do as I say.”
co-sign
The government is approaching a debt equal to GDP. Perhaps we should be doing the lecturing. Don’t be fooled either, the policies are what’s important not the rhetoric and the policies are still weighted in favor of the banking and credit card industry.
Fed Tip #1: Never charge the popcorn.
Best way to handle credit card debt?
Lose the cards, go on a pay as you go basis.
Oh, and drop your bank account in favor of a credit union account.
Amen!
I agree with Sonja, above. The Federal Reserve Bank has been a failure when it comes to U.S. Treasury debt.
Abolish the FED. It’s no longer needed, it’s a huge waste of taxpayer money.
We went to see a film a couple of weeks ago at an AMC Theatre. From the time the lights went down until the actual feature started was, I shit you not, about 45 minutes.
@ Justin:
Absolutely correct. Hopefully these in-theater commercials will be saturated in the Georgetown and Virginia suburbs for the drunken sailors on leave…ooops, I mean our elected representatives to see as they jack our national debt up even more. BTW, it would really be interesting to see who authorized these commercials and especially, which advertising agencies and production companies got paid to produce them.
I agree it’s a little ironic for the feds to be lecturing about credit/debt issues, however, to the extent people are still making bad decisions on their personal financial decisions, I support the gov’t educational efforts via ads.
Consider the positive impact of the ads they had about wearing seat-belts in the past. Prior to the ads, few wore seat belts (“It feels uncomfortable”, “I don’t want to get trapped in the car if on fire or underwater”, yada yada yada). Now, most people feel uncomfortable not wearing a seat belt. If anyone (gov’t or others) can change bad habits into good habits, I’ll gladly step out of the way.
Welcome to the nanny state. After Empress Pelosi takes over health care, we’ll all be treated to commercials advising us not to get that popcorn and soda because it will put undue stress on our arteries and the government’s checkbook. That is, if Congress doesn’t decide movies have too large a carbon footprint and ban them altogether…
Ignorance must be bliss.
I’m sure you can tell us…
Now we are heckling the government for giving good advice. The next credit default swap collapse will be that of credit card debt, so take it easy on the old fed. I think they are working in both the nation’s economy’s interest and our own. People bought houses and borrowed via credit at an astronomical rate for the last decade plus and that chicken is coming back to roost y’all. We did it to ourselves.
Ah, if it was only as easy to be poor as you seem to believe it is. Education is one way out of poverty; this is just one example of government doing a little service toward that goal. I’m sorry you find it laughable.
I don’t see how working to make the public more informed is a bad thing?
It’s the hypocrisy of the message coming from the federal reserve. The cartel that has looted the American people of 95% of the value of their money and created the bubbles that caused the crisis we are in today.
The Fed lecturing (sorry, “educating”) ANYONE on fiscal responsibility is the single most pot-kettle-black moment in the history of the world. And the last thing on EARTH our government wants is people to use debt responsibly, nor the government itself. This is dark humor at it’s blackest.
one more reason to only see films at the arclight.
As stupid as it might be, it’s a good step. We have basically zero financial education in this country as part of the required curriculum and anything we can do to educate people earlier is for the best. It’s ironic, sure, but it’s stupid only if you’re a jaded douchebag.
Also, pay as you go doesn’t work because this country is run on credit. I paid as I went for a few years and then when I went to buy a new car they thought I had been out of the country all that time since I wasn’t in debt. That’s how we roll here…
OK … but should I wait for the new commercial that will tell me how to find a rope and a tree first? Or should I just figure it out myself …
Now if only someone that ACTUALLY had people’s best interests in mind would buy a bunch of movie theater ad time and use it educate folks on why they should dump their credit cards altogether…people have been brainwashed into thinking they’re a necessity, but they’re only a necessity in the sense that our corrupt banking system can’t survive unless we continue to use them.
Str8 up
The ‘GOVERNMENT’ is not educating people about credit card responsibilities via ads as the Federal Reserve is NOT a government department it is a private corporation registered in the State of Delaware.
ALAN GREENSPAN former Chairman of the Federal Reserve admits that the Federal Reserve is an Independent (Private) Entity and answers to NOBODY, not even congress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol3mEe8TH…
Congress asked current Federal Reserve Chairman of the Board of Governors Ben S. Bernanke which foreign banks were the recipients of Federal Reserve credit swaps to the value of half a trillion dollars, Ben S. Bernanke looks them straight in the eyes and refuses to disclose the information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0NYBTkE1yQ&feature=player_embedded
now’s a pretty funny time for the govt. to be feeling guilty about all the years banks have been pillaging while both parties turned a blind eye/endorsed.
here’s to the new world order.
I would welcome any Fed commercial over the “Join the Army” commercials that have played at almost every movie that I went to the past few months.
The “FED” will be lecturing US about HOW TO HANDLE MONEY/CREDIT?!! Geezus didn’t WE the taxpaying slaves just BAIL THEM OUT so Goldman & Gangs wouldn’t break their legs?!!
Love it. I can boo and hiss and howl execration before I eat my popcorn.