Debt disease contest
Posted on March 12th, 2008 – 3:33 PMBy Kara McGuire
I was talking last week with Carlson School of Management Professor David Hopkins about what it will take to get people to stop living beyond their means.
A branding expert, Hopkins said maybe we needed a public service campaign the likes of Smokey the Bear, or the crying Native American canoeing through dirty water for saving and spending.
Anti-smoking ads are the latest example.
I was proposing an ad featuring seniors digging through dumpsters or eating cat food because they have no money in retirement.
Have an ad idea that you think would scare Americans into saving? Then read on.
Students (including grad students) ages 14 and older can win $5,000 for school expenses if their public service announcement for so-called “debt disease” is picked as the winner. The web-based video contest at www.KeepItInYourPants.org–a site worth visiting even if you have no plans to enter the contest. The contest is co-sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and the League of Young Voters.
You have until March 19th to send in your entry.
The sponsors say the contest is a response to readily available credit for college students:
“Credit card debt can ruin your life, spreading and growing like a disease,” said Stephen Lerner, SEIU Assistant to the President and Director of the Private Equity Project. “We’re warning young people of the dangers of ‘Debt Disease’—and urging them to protect themselves the same way they would against any other dangerous and contagious social epidemic.”
What do you think? Will such a campaign work?
2 Responses to "Debt disease contest"
I would rather see a class in personal finance be required for graduation. Most people know that credit card debt is bad (the same way they know that cigarette smoking is bad). Doesn’t stop them. If people felt like they had alternatives or understood what choices were the best for their situation, I think it would be better. Not everyone has an retirement plan offered through work. Some never will. And not everyone has parents that can offer sound financial advice. My parents are far worse off financially than I am and they got me into some bad habits because they didn’t know what they were doing. I’m getting better, but when it’s been about changing the ideas about money management that I was raised with. Not an easy task.
I agree with Nicole about a personal finance course. And not one to just balance a checkbook. When she says graduation, though, I would take it to mean high school graduation. It should be part of our wonderful grad standards. It’s great if someone can do advanced trig- but what happens when that genius can’t balance their checkbook and don’t understand basic finances? I think making students calculate the true cost of even a charged 99 cent iTunes download by paying for it with a credit card starting at 5% and rocketing to 30% when the first payment is missed by accident, would be a true benefit to students and society.
