We’ve always enjoyed the old sort of bank ads, so divorced from any real risk or danger as their pre-financial crisis rhetoric sounded. Now, of course, bank ad campaigns have a heaping mass of negative associations to overcome before viewers will even begin to contemplate their message. This new problematic is exactly what Creative Review’s CR Blog tracks in their listicle of 4 Recession-Appropriate Bank Ads. Notice the lack of humor and wishy-washy message that banks will do anything for you. They’re not much fun and some, like the HSBC ad below, are actually completely evil:

Incidentally, we really hate HSBC’s entire “Your Point of View” campaign.