Complaint over credit union TV advert, which encourages people to literally get their banker off their back, thrown out

A complaint over a credit union television advertisement featuring a range of people piggybacking bankers, with one ultimately thrown out into the street as a customer enters a credit union branch, has been dismissed with the Advertising Standards Authority ruling it didn't attack or discredit registered banks.

 In the NZCU advert, when a piggybacking, suit wearing man is thrown out of the NZCU building, an NZCU employee appears in the doorway wiping her hands. As the man entered the building the words “unlike big banks, we’re not all about profit. We’re all about you, so we’re not on your back, we’re on your side” feature.

NZCU is a group of credit unions trading under a single brand offering personal banking products and services to members.

G. Shimmin complained about the comparison with banks through the words "unlike the big banks” noting a "tiny" disclaimer shown very briefly at the end of the advert states that NZCU is not a registered bank.

"How do you then make a comparison between the services and products offered by a registered trading bank and something that isn't?" Shimmin complained.

"The ad also casts aspersions on the practices of 'the big banks' by showing them to be a constant and annoying presence. The advertiser is casting the competition, which isn't actually a competitor at all, in a negative light," Shimmin added.

In response NZCU said it believed the advert was fair, saying the language isn't extravagant or exaggerated and the comparison with banks is generic and doesn't mention or allude to any specific bank by name.

"Credit Unions throughout their history have acted in a socially responsible manner and we do not believe we have breached this covenant in any way in this advertisement," NZCU said.

"We are not-for-profit customer-owned organisations with an acknowledged high level of integrity. The advertisement is clearly of a high standard and is designed to make a point that by comparison to the commercial trading banks, we are customer owned and we don't charge to the same extent. By showing 'the bank on your back' we are demonstrating a phrase that is commonly used."

NZCU added that it wasn't setting out to deceive.

"Clearly our competitive positioning is that as our customers are our owners, we are not trying to make excessive profits as the wellbeing of our members is our main concern."

Saying NZCU doesn't compete with banks was a factual error given it offers a full range of personal banking services, NZCU added.

The Advertising Standards Authority decided that because NZCU does offer the same products and services as registered banks, the advertisement was comparative. Next it focused on whether the advert purports to inform consumers by strictly observing matters of truth, as opposed to attacking competitors and thus misleading consumers.

It agreed with NZCU that the advert uses generic language and doesn't single out any specific competitor bank or service. The Advertising Standards Authority also mulled the NZCU point of difference, being "diminished" fees through direct customer ownership, and decided the use of a man wearing suit, riding on the back of non-NZCU customers, doesn't attack or discredit registered banks.

Therefore it ruled that the advert doesn't breach the Code for Financial Advertising or the Code for Comparative Advertising.

Consequently, the complaint was not upheld.

See the full decision here.