HSBC - gone banana's!

aytch · 24 May 2008 at 4:59PM

Not really a vent, just a post to voice my absolute disbelief in the promotional mailing that arrived at my home yesterday.

Here we are in an age of 'green' when most people are trying to do their bit to cut down on waste and what do I get from my bank, a decorated, shiny high quality lidded box, lined with tissue and inside ...... a six inch bright yellow foam / plastic banana.

And why was I sent this - to let me know that as a company they cannot help with the safeguarding of the humble banana, but they could help me - what pants, and what a waste of money.

Not often am I stunned into silence (unfortunately for my husband!) but now know the world has gone mad!!!

bluejake · 24 May 2008 at 8:49PM

I wish they would send me one. I don't think a mailing is going to cause the next ice age or melt the ice caps or whatever it is this week. Think of all the energy you used making that post.

aytch · 24 May 2008 at 8:57PM

bluejake wrote: »

I wish they would send me one. I don't think a mailing is going to cause the next ice age or melt the ice caps or whatever it is this week. Think of all the energy you used making that post.

Its yours - send me your address and I will post it to you - thus keeping the postman in work, HSBC promoted, my recycling bin emptier and you happy.
:beer:

Pteradactyl · 27 May 2008 at 12:01PM

I too got a banana and have let HSBC customer services know of my disgust at this dreadful marketing sham. Have they employed a failure from 'The Apprentice' TV show to produce this? The team that dreamt this one up should be put in front of Alan Sugar and let him tell them what he thinks of it before the immortal words - "You're Fired!"

nzmegs · 27 May 2008 at 2:34PM

I had something similar come thru work recently - but it was a plastic hammer in a box with several pages of paper explaining how it was supposed to help with marketing - what a laugh. Worst thing is though we had 6 of them arrive sent to diffeent people in the office!
These people really do not have a clue!

giverny · 7 June 2008 at 2:30PM

My wife and I have both separately received these stupid bananas this week. What is the matter with HSBC, do they think their customers are monkeys ??? Perhaps in future they should be know as the "bananas bank"....

darcyvuqua · 7 June 2008 at 2:32PM

i hope i get one just so that i cant go into my branch and ask if i can pay it into my account!!!!!

polly3201 · 26 June 2008 at 5:38PM

i think it's brilliant - well done them:T

scorpio_princess · 27 June 2008 at 11:58PM

Marketing is tax-detuctable - enough said.

HSBC make squillions in profit every year - they need something to use up that excess cash.

They should just cut all this [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] and give us something we actually want/need - lower charges!

While we're on the subject of marketing, I got a gem of a marketing ploy from Royal Mail at work the other day. They were trying to promote 'direct marketing' and how it could help my business. A letter wasn't enough, because i'm so thick that I need the message 'how to make your business stretch further' to be hammered home by including a giant 'rubber band' (well it was actually a red latex stretchy thing, kind of like what physios use to work muscles) in my marketing pack :rolleyes: Talk about being literal! Luckily I can actually make use of this band (as i'm currently having physio on my knee) but they weren't to know that! I bet most people binned it - at what cost to the environment? Makes me soooo angry!

bigdavieh · 28 June 2008 at 12:02AM

I too was absolutely furious with HSBC...my banana tasted disgusting.

I have written them a letter of complaint and sent it recorded delivery.

trisontana · 28 June 2008 at 1:01PM

On the subject of wasted resources from companies, what about those huge documents (hundreds of pages) which you receive as a shareholder when a company is the subject of a take-over bid? I had this happen twice, when BAA and O2 were sold out to other companies. Because both of these were privatised organizations (BT and the British Airports Authority) I image they must have had hundreds of thousands of small shareholders, each of which would have received this massive document. Even the postage was high for this tome. It must have cost a small fortune, and lots of wasted paper, to send them out.