Someone paid for this ad campaign?

What is Abigail saying?
What is Abigail saying?

I saw the attached poster today in Union Station. I stood and stared at it wondering whether I read it correctly. Then I took a picture of it and stared at that for a while. Using Adams bank gives Abigail Adams the vapors? And that’s supposed to be a good thing?

Having the vapors was a medical term used roughly around the time of the Civil War, which was fifty years after Abby Adams was dead. It was used to refer to nervous disorders like depression or hysteria. There’s a misconception that it was also used to refer to flatulence, though I cannot find hard evidence of that. Either way an ATM that gives me gas with a bought of depression seems like a place I want to bank. I wonder if the bank gives away a combination of Gas-X and Zoloft with every checking account?

Someone paid for this ad? I think Creative got a little too creative.

One thought on “Someone paid for this ad campaign?”

  1. Nothing so harse, Ian. To the Victorians the “vapors” were a swooning by a female usually in response to some stimulus. Of course, it’s more likely that Jane Addams would succumb to “the Vapors” than Abigail…

    :)ave

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