That's my assessment. They suck. They really just suck. Well, maybe you want some more detailed analysis. There's the credit card commercials where commerce is moving along like a well-oiled machine, and then someone uses cash. Everything screeches to a halt, and everyone glares at the evil cash-payer. When the cash-payer is done, the next person uses a credit card, and the system again moves swiftly hand happily.
It's nonsense. It attempts to create a false sense of public disapproval. It attempt to create a perception that those around you will be angry with you for using cash, because you're slowing them down. It's not even true, cash is at least as fast as is paying with a credit card.
Another variant is very similar, except that the person is paying with a check. Ok, paying with a check is a little slower, but not much. In this variation, the check-writer, in the face of the disapproving throng, puts away the checkbook and pulls out a credit card. Everyone is happy again. But most businesses are very happy to take cash or check, because they do not have to pay fees to the credit card company. The credit card company is the only one made unhappy with cash or check transactions.
During sports events, there is a third variation: "Real men" are buying football gear which they "need" in order to watch the game. And, being "real men", they pay with a credit card. Then, a slight man wearing a pink shirt with a lavender sweater tied around his neck buys some tennis balls - and pays cash. Everyone expresses disapproval. The message of this is that if you pay cash, you are unmanly, if not gay. The big irony here is that the "unmanly" cash-payer is actually going to play a sport while the "real men" are going to sit on their asses and watch.
It's no wonder that so many people get into trouble with credit. Most people's credit knowledge comes from credit card company propaganda. Sure, they should get good knowledge, but it's just harder to find then the constant barrage of propaganda. We are fed emotional nonsense, we are fed the idea that it is normal to have large balances, normal to use credit to pay for things you don't have the money for.
I'm not completely anti-commercial, I plan on buying a new TV. But I am going to buy it using money that I have saved up for it. I have friends who make a lot more money than I do who are deep in debt because they are completely bought into the propaganda. I just have to shake my head when you talk with them about credit, they understand what you are saying and agree with you, and then the hyper-consumption propaganda just takes over.
We are fed bushels of sparkles and lies. We swallow promises that never come true, and expect the next bag of sparkles and lies to deliver.