If you watch any amount of television, you’re probably familiar with the
latest incarnation of Capital One’s "What’s
in your wallet?" no-hassle credit card ads. These are the ads featuring
everyday Joes and Janes being followed around by bankers with their hands in Joe’s
and Jane’s pockets. (The ads feature Indie musician Jim Guthrie’s catchy tune,
"Hands in My Pocket".)
While I initially thought the ads were cute, there was something about them
that bothered me. I finally realized what it was. Someone correct me if I’m
wrong, but I could swear that every single "greedy banker" visible in
the Capital One ads is an older white male. Because, y’know, all we white
males ever do is oppress people and screw them out of their hard earned money.
I note that Capital One also offers their
services to Canadians, but I think I’ll be turning up my nose at their
credit cards as I have no interest in giving MY hard earned money to a company
that portrays me — a white male approaching middle age — as the capitalistic embodiment of evil in its advertising. In
other words, I can tell you what’s not in my wallet. Feel free to send an
e-mail to their Ombudsman at ombudsman@capitalone.com
if you’re offended by their advertising as well. More contact information can be
found here.
I never noticed that but that’s a very good point.
They should mix it up for next time (like and old Asian guy with a cane and his hand on your pocket!).
Around our house we refer to those commercials as Liberal Party ads!
From the beginning I have felt these ads were talking about liberals. At first I thought it was an NDP election ad. I really expected to see Strong in one of the ads, or maybe Dingwell and friends. Think of these ads as commercials to remind us of adscam. No, I don’t have their card.
Sean are ya feelin’ old or sumthin? If I recall correctly y’aint even 40 yet!
Capital One should replace their current campaign. Maybe they could go with something like, “it’s so easy to apply for a Capital One card, a caveman could do it!”
…what’s that?
Gotta go, I’ve just been served.
I try to tune commercials out, missed that also. Maybe we are just conditioned to this b.s. by now. Just think of the uproar if it was a First Nations guy.
I dunno. I’m an older white male myself (mid-fifties), and I’m certainly aware that I get blamed for all sorts of things for which I’m not remotely responsible, but this one doesn’t bother me. Of course, I don’t even have a television.
I’m sorry Sean, I must correct you here… every one of those bankers is a fat, white liberal and they are looking for brown envelopes full of cash.
The music/lyrics take me right back to the election in January…we were waiting for the CPC to pick it up for the campaign…guess they didn’t have to…
slightly OT…PMSH told Craig Oliver that the reason the enviro is such a big topic is thanks to the fact there are no other ‘scandals or ripoffs’ in the government. …no surprise Oliver ignored the truth.
Stereotyping people in society is only allowed if the victims are middle-aged, white, Christian males.
Hey, here’s a fun game. Try to find the black male banker that either sits on the board of directors or is in an executive position for one of Canada’s major banks.
I looked through BMO, RBC, CIBC, & TD. Women do pretty well, and there’s even one or two asian women.
To be honest, I could only find one guy who kinda looks a little like he could be black. But then, the pic was black and white, so it’s hard to tell.
Anyway… fricken stereo types. I’m cancelling my Capital One credit card now that I know banks hate white guys with money. Thanks for the tip OP!
You’ve probably seen the fedex commercial where some white guys sit about, completely perplexed, over trying to ship a package to Germany. i was pleased when they called in an Asian lady, senior mangement, and she was equally stumped and suggested they break into groups. (There was three of them.)
Anyway, it was good to see that the minority wasn’t cast as the all-knowing problem solver.
Stupid Capital One. Don’t they know that Jews control all the banks?
This is a joke right? You were honestly that offended? All federal Liberal leaders have been old, white men as well. And they’ve had their hands in people’s pockets for years. Stereotype seems about right.
Stupid Capital One. Don’t they know that Jews control all the banks?
You’re absolutely right. To reflect reality, 15% of the “greedy bankers” should be minorities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/11/AR2005051102027.html
Stupid Capital One. Don’t they know that Jews control all the banks?
Because, y’know, all we white males ever do is oppress people and screw them out of their hard earned money.
Sheeyah. I wish.
Compared to lot TV commercial guys they aren’t too bad.It seems to me that that most Dad’s are portrayed as loveable idiots that are oblivious to all the eye rolls that they receive from spouse and children. Sometimes though they are smarter than the family dog.
Can’t wait to see the debut of Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Any bets on whether they have a middle aged man being a rightwing Christian nut?
I hate Capital One ads. I mean, really, really hate. They were the most obnoxious ads back in the States. One of the reasons I’m so glad we don’t have cable now . . . I’m never tempted to turn on the TV, only to be irritated by annoying, stupid commercials.
“What’s in your wallet?” Well, it’s sure as hell not a Capital One card.
Sean, at least you’ve acknowledged that you are the capitalistic embodiment of evil. Confession is the first step on the road to recovery.
Capital One’s ongoing campaign is easily one of the most annoying out there. The mere fact that David Spade has been prominently involved prompted me to the assumption that both he and the company are simply desperate and therefore deserve each other. Forthwith, I have assumed all their advertising to be motivated by the same desperation and have gone out of my way to tune them out.
So now we should play the victim card? Not gonna happen. Just grin and bear it.
That song drives me nuts though.
Gee Sean,
I think you’re on to something. Maybe MBNA should feature you in an add wailing about Capital One’s depiction of bankers to a sympathetic visible minority who nods on cue. Then they can slap a slogan like [i]Come to MBNA where whitey’s interest charges are appreciated.[/i]”
Don’t look under your bed Sean, there’s a conspiracy to bring whitey down.
Gee Sean,
I think you’re on to something. Maybe MBNA should feature you in an add wailing about Capital One’s depiction of bankers to a sympathetic visible minority who nods on cue. Then they can slap a slogan like [i]Come to MBNA where whitey’s interest charges are appreciated.[/i]”
Don’t look under your bed Sean, there’s a conspiracy to bring whitey down.
I hear what your saying… But have a look at the investors section of any bank site where they have pictures of the directors and executives. You’ll see the ad people are quite accurate.
Despite the scurrilous comments above there is a long standing conspiracy against the WASP. The WHite Anglo-Saxon Protestant is despised in Sociology schools. The “value judgements” ascribed to the WASP are always held up as something tinged with …well, they never made that entirely clear. So when lesser lights, lesser intellects like commercial writers first use the stereotype and secondonly do not get slapped for it (until this blog) well, why not? Why not continue the Catholic-French, aided and abetted by the Irish famine descendants against the English (read Protrestant) “overlords” who (a) took our country du Canada(mondit!) and (b) faith and begorrah didn’t they starve us to death then?” Oh yeah . Know the history of how the Irish and the French found common cause in the Catholic movement, engendered by the Priests on instructions from the Vatican …. and then you can finally realize why white English people who work hard and live middle class lives have been underattack since Trudeau bilingualized the RCMP and the Military, and then invented multiculturalism to further destroy the “hegemony” he perceived as the white English having in this land. The problem is the WASP has become such a self-hater, he goes along with it and leans over backwards to be feminist and tolerant, while he watches over the demise of every principle he ever learned was good and wholesome. Marriage. Hard work. Integrity. God, Duty. Personal responsibility for behaviour. Her majesty and the Parliamentary system as it was meant to be, not what Trudeau’s minions have made it.
One night when watching T.V. and that M.B.N.A. commercial came on (Hand’s in my pocket) my girlfriend turned to me and said You don’t see and girl’s around on that commercial with some other guys had in her pocket do you,or hers in his.
Opps sorry I said M.B.N.A. where I should have said Capitol One.
This ad follows the same racial sensitivities as other ads. Ever see ads about youth committing criminal acts or pushing drugs on their schoolmates? All those ads also only feature Whitey as the criminal. You know, just like real life *rolls eyes*
Then there’s Rick Mercer’s analysis:
http://www.evanroberts.com/?p=296
William Gairdner has the ‘rights’ to the phrase.
“The Trouble WiTh Canada”(1990).The chart on page 190 is titled ‘look whose hand is in your pocket’…he wasn’t referring to Capital One.
Sean …at first we might wonder why SWC didn’t have a ‘study’ about the lack of women in this add…but then we see ‘the men’ in a bad way so they skipped the issue, I guess.
Of course it’s the government who have their hands in your pocket, 24×7. That gives me an idea – this ad should be set up with a new narration and offered up on Utoob …
Yikes. My Capital One Card is alli use. the interest rate is set at prime plus one or something. I ususlly pay between 5 and 10 percent. I figure I save $hundreds a year. It’ll take a bit more than this to make me switch.
just imagine the uproar if it were a native or a maritimer or a quebecois and the song
“handouts from your pockets, handouts from your pockets”
and as for Rick Mercer- a knee in the package would be too good for the ubersnivelservant he is.
Sorry, not important in the current scheme of things.
Their service seems very good, and as there is no malicious intent by them or their advertising agency, there is no real issue. = TG
I like those cards.
I’ve had a one for over a year and still haven’t seen a minimum payment…
If Capital One cards sucked, where would all the money to put retarded commercials on the air come from?
Tim Horton’s is a much better example of this…
Lighten up, Sean. The commercial is effective just the way it is. What you should be more insulted at is that viewers don’t even look at the old, white man with his hand in his pocket. Don’t you know that old, white Christian men are invisible? 🙂
You should also be more offended at the commercials that show 14 year olds in ads for anti-aging cream or the gazillions of all the sexually charged ads aimed at tweenagers. Astounding what we adults allow our children to watch, read and buy. Then again, there are too many parents who are trying to be their kids BFF’s these days but that is a whole other issue and I have wondered off topic far enough.
how aboutt he one with the barbarian shooting plastic reaindeer from the pizza truck
“Despite the scurrilous comments above there is a long standing conspiracy against the WASP.”
Can we say “Coo Coo for Coco Puffs?”