Television commercials and football now go hand-in-hand. There’s usually more water-cooler discussion about the commercials that air during the Super Bowl than there is about the actual game itself. The intense following football has guarantees a captive audience.
While watching football last Sunday, I saw the usual crop of advertisers — beer companies, car companies, and soon-to-be-released movies. But there was one advertiser that aired a couple of commercials that I had never seen before, and it was touting auto loans.
Navy Federal Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in the country, was touting its products to people watching pro football last week. (I should probably wait a few hours to see if the CU is back again during this week’s broadcasts).
In the ad promoting its auto loan, the credit union, with advertising agency Fitzgerald + CO., tie its core clients — members of the armed services — to promoting auto loans.
The clever ad starts with a man, crouched in front of a jeep, talking about being left alone and having to fight his way to safety. There are signs that he might be less than a Green Beret — he starts by saying that the time was “thirty-six hundred o’clock.” After his tale, the camera pans back to the man’s sister. Since she is a member of the Army, he can join Navy Federal, and get a “great rate” on a car loan, so he can “drive himself to laser tag,” she says.
“It’s a real sport,” he says.
“No, it’s not,” she replies.
The commercial ends by telling the public that Navy FCU has fou million members and “4 million stories.”
It’s great to see a financial institution that doesn’t usually advertise on TV promoting itself in a new medium. And it’s great to see that institution promoting its auto loan products.
Check out the ad when you get a chance and let me know what you think.
