'Don Dinero' emerges from the Baroque era to embody our state of mind and money

Well, here's one (in Spanish) that breaks the mould for banking ads. Spain's financial services group Bankinter puts out 1'30" of arresting visuals that are going down really well with viewers: they allude to the kind of tests the European Union subjects its bank notes to - worth watching just for this - and by extension illustrate tough everyday realities with the use of hard, visible cash. Adding to the message about the stresses applied to our money is a specially written track which adapts a poem by Spanish nobleman, politician and writer Francisco de Quevedo (1580-1645). 'Poderoso caballero es Don Dinero' ('Mr Money is a powerful gentleman') is here delivered in a gravelly male voice referencing the current issues of rising interest rates, war, increased cost of living, and other stresses both physical and mental being applied to us and our money. It's not the first time that Bankinter, which was founded in 1965 as an industrial bank through a joint venture between Banco Santander and BankAmerica, has used song to make its point. In this campaign, it acknowledges current challenges and the fact that its clients want good treatment in times of inflation, and offers solutions such as interest-free payments. What do you make of the upfront approach? Does it embody our state of mind and money? Or is it just another clever manipulation of both? According to Bankinter, teh ad aims "to make both clients and non-clients aware of managing family finances well in times of particular economic uncertainty, market volatility and rising inflation, as we're currently experiencing", and 'offer financial products and services which will help people face negative impacts'.

Keywords: Bankinter Don Dinero, banking ads, money commercials, personal finance, Spanish banking, Sioux & Cyranos