Dan Gainor, The Examiner
2006-12-12 08:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

No matter how you count, Visa is a commercial success. There are more than 500 million Visa cards in the United States, and the company had $1.3 trillion in sales during the last year alone.

Advertising is a big reason for the Visa success story. And the “life takes Visa” campaign is just another fun example. You can’t watch football without seeing the company’s latest entry into pop culture — the “Lunch” commercial.

If I could only hum the audio, you’d know it instantly. The scene begins with a stream of customers flowing in and out of a restaurant — orchestrated to a Looney Tunes theme we all recognize. (You can see the commercial at usa.visa.com/personal/visa_brings_you/advertising/index.html?it=searchQuicklink.)

The song is a frenetic number called “Powerhouse” by composer Raymond Scott. You’d know it because it was used in dozens of Warner Bros. cartoons. (It’s on iTunes if you want to hear a snippet.) “Powerhouse” sets the scene of a factory-like production line.

Colorful drinks, plates and food go flying by in a coordinated fashion that the Ravens marching band could only envy. Each transaction ends with a swipe of a Visa Check Card paying for the meal. The camera focuses on one lowly cog in that vast and orderly complexity.

The man reaches the register, but takes out cash and the whole crazy lunch machine crashes to a halt as food and drinks go flying. “Powerhouse” grinds to a halt, and the man hands over the bills sheepishly. Both the cashier and another customer give him the evil eye as the deli becomes eerily quiet.

What message is Visa feeding us with that 60-second spot? “The Visa Check Card ... because money shouldn’t slow you down.” Its Web site reveals Visa has the audacity to claim it has become “better money” because of convenience and security.

It’s good that Visa used music from Warner Bros. cartoons because it’s Looney Tunes to say that using cash is inferior.

I’m happy to give Visa credit for cashing in on effective advertising to promote its product. I’m certainly a fan of credit cards and wouldn’t even complain except Visa’s ad folks have the nerve to claim their product is better than Uncle Sam’s.

I first got carded decades ago — back when credit was harder to get. My relationship with Visa goes back to when ’80s hairstyles were popular the first time. But if you want to take credit, you also have to take responsibility. Credit is a kind word for debt, and Americans have mountains of that — a typical U.S. household has nearly $10,000 just in credit card obligations.

That’s fine if you are responsible, but deadly if you aren’t. Visa is right that convenience makes credit cards an outstanding tool. But when you do cash and carry, the one thing you don’t end up carrying is more debt.

Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute, a career journalist and media commentator. He can be reached at gainorcolumn@gmail.com.