Put That Cash Away!

Last week I wrote about the Visa campaign suggesting that people who pay with cash or checks bring business to a screeching halt. My personal take on the spot is that the point isn't to promote use of the card in the check card sense, but in the credit card sense. Yes, it's called a Visa check card, but come on--everyone knows Visa is a credit card. Using the card as a check card is the same as using it as an ATM card--and incurring the same fees you're charged if you use your ATM card at a machine other than your bank's.

I think the commercial is absurd and advocates the "charge it!" mentality that's leading many Americans to the poorhouse. Incidentally, there was an article yesterday's Washington Post talking about this same mentality and the resulting consumer debt--$2.52 trillion!

Anyway, today in MarketingProfs Daily Fix, one of the many marketing newsletters I subscribe to, there was an article talking about that same Visa commercial. The author, Jeanne Bliss, had a very different take on it than I did--namely, that the ad is all about speed and efficiency with no mention of the fact that many people use it as a credit card, not a check card.