Operation Sombrero

Every once in a while, I encounter something that utterly convinces me that the average American is mentally retarded.  One of these things is the idea that a colorful animation could possibly influence someone's decision on which mortgage broker to choose.

For most people, a mortgage will be the single largest debt they will incur in their entire lives.  So naturally, a good mortgage broker should have the following qualities:

A fat girl and skinny guy dancing on a rooftop in front
of a gigantic full moon.

Abraham Lincoln and George Washington tapdancing.

A woman getting "CALCULATE NEW PAYMENT" tattooed
to her forearm.

An ear of corn with kernels representing each state.

A retarded clown.

A green psychadelic...something.

A baby on the beach.

An attractive couple eskimo kissing.

A rattlesnake with a scale for each state.

A man in a suit hula-hooping "CALCULATE NEW PAYMENT"

A magical computer that forces people to dance wildly
while they are captured on a hidden camera.  The fat girls
dancing seems to be a trend.

A woman and man with disturbingly large heads.

It's bad enough that these ads are so mind-numbingly, embarrassing-to-be-a-human stupid.  But they are freaking everywhere.  You can't visit any popular website anymore without seeing these things.  And as someone with an MBA who knows a little about marketing, this really is an insult to the people who work hard to develop clever and informational advertising campaigns.  It bothers me that "ha, made you look" could possibly be successful.

But LowerMyBills (a subsidiary of the otherwise-reputable credit reporting agency Experian) is obviously making money, because otherwise they wouldn't be able to afford this exposure.  So how can I really blame them for doing what apparently works?

As we are starting to see some stagnation in the housing market, we are also seeing a record number of foreclosures on houses that were bought by people who really couldn't afford them in the first place.  I wonder how many of these people were lured into bad adjustable-rate mortgages through ads like these.

But on the other hand, if you are stupid enough to be influenced by an animated clown, maybe losing your house teaches a valuable lesson.

The lesson being: Don't be so damn stupid.