Take It From a Fake Cowboy, First Interstate Means 'No Nonsense Banking'

Skewering ad tropes to tout transparency

And this week’s award for truth in advertising goes to… the phony, self-aware cowboy in TDA Boulder’s debut campaign for First Interstate Bank.

Dubbed “No Nonsense Banking,” the work seeks to highlight the institution’s transparency and straightforward customer service. In the spot below, ol’ hoss seems to be riding across the plains. But we quickly learn that appearances can be deceiving.

“Companies love hiring people like me to relate to you,” he begins. “Problem is, I’m just a ridiculously handsome actor.”

“I just learned to ride this horse yesterday,” he says. “That’s why First Interstate doesn’t rely on nonsense like me. Just real nice people, like Tommy here, who know a lot more about banking than I do.”

And the camera pulls back to reveal that a bank staffer has been guiding the wrangler all along.

“Our audience is done with corporate BS—and banking ads are some of the worst offenders,” TDA copywriter and ACD Kyle Rathod tells Muse. “Jargon, cheesy stock photos, hollow lines. People don’t want to be sold to, they want straight answers. So, instead of adding to the corporate clutter, we poked fun at the clichés everyone’s sick of.”

As for the comic approach, “You can’t bore people into trusting you—but you can make them laugh, and that goes a long way,” he says. “At the end of the day, First Interstate is still a bank. But at least it’s one that gives it to you straight.”

Inverting the cowboy trope—familiar from countless commercials—makes that point in amusing fashion. So does this endless, awkward handshake, which represents a happy-happy stock photo come to life:

Not as creepy as DoorDash’s non-stop make-out session from yesterday. Still dude, just let go.

The flight targets “longtime locals and newer transplants building something in the modern West (CO, ID, MT, WY, NE),” Rathod says. “They are self-reliant, risk-tolerant and allergic to corporate-speak. We wanted them to walk away thinking, ‘This bank isn’t going to waste my time with nonsense. They’ll just do the job right and let me get on with my life.'”

Speaking of nonsense, in the next clip, an overpromising bank follows its customers “every step of the way,” 24/7/365. Let’s see how that works out:

Michael Downing directed through The Sweetshop and Chirp Films. He delivers diverting adverts that compellingly state the bank’s case but never oversell the brand proposition.

Finally, First Interstate dangles the keys to home ownership—but is that really everyone’s dream?

“Delivering clean lines without moving your lips is harder than it looks, and our talent crushed it—in 100-degree heat, no less,” Rathod recalls.

Related: FirstBank Wants to Be the Highlight of Your Day