By M. Christian

YNOT – There are times when even the adult industry has to shake its collective head and wonder “What the hell were they thinking?”

This week was one of those times: a credit union decided to test the boundaries of the old adage “sex sells” by employing suggestive imagery in an advertisement.

And not just any credit union — the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union.

History abounds with examples of how bad an idea using human body parts to shill certain products can be. Witness a 15-year-old Brooke Shields cooing “Want to know what gets between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” Or pick from a lengthy list of brouhahas that erupted over Abercrombie & Fitch’s … well, everything.

None of that stopped the Senate FCU from employing a female model’s notable assets as a come-on for loans.

Kimberley Johnson at Addicting Info described the gaffe well: “The credit union recently sent out a mailer with a photo [PDF] of a woman’s torso with a special sparkle graphic directing your eyes to her buxom chest in case you were focusing on her white tank top or long, flowing blonde hair. On one side of the photo, it reads GOT BIG PLANS? Let us worry about the money … you’ve got a lot of living to do.”

The flipside of the flyer urges members to “please borrow responsibly.”

Now don’t get us wrong: The flyer is attractive in a disembodied-boobs, impersonal sort of way. If it had been marketing Mel’s Used Cars, a few eyebrows might have risen, but most folks would have given the mailer the attention it deserved (or didn’t). If the flyer had been distributed by a major national brand, millions of robotically created letters and phone calls of outrage no doubt would have followed.

Generated by the U.S. Senate Federal Credit Union, the flyer provoked a petition and calls for public hangings.

Credit union member Amber Wobschall started a Change.org petition seeking not only an apology mailed to members en masse, but also disciplinary action for those involved and “anti-sexism training to help improve the environment in which this was allowed to occur.”

Wobschall summed up her position for the Huffington Post: “I can’t imagine what they were thinking. Mailings usually don’t go out without a few sets of eyes in the approval process.”

All we can say is, it probably wasn’t the eyes doing the thinking.

The credit union’s management issued a formal apology before the virtual ink even dried on the petition.

[QUOTE] It has come to our attention that the imagery and message in a recent marketing direct mail campaign has offended some of our membership. It was not the intention of this marketing campaign to insult, demean or in any way offend anyone in our field of membership.

The Board of Directors and senior management personally apologize to the membership of the United States Senate Federal Credit Union for this action.

The comments and opinions of our members recently received are very important to the Board. We will always value your opinion, membership, and support of the Senate Federal Credit Union.

We will also work diligently and constantly to keep your confidence in our leadership.
[/QUOTE]
In other words, as former President George W. Bush once said: “We’re all capable of mistakes, but [we] do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.”