What Boring Banks and AI Necklaces Taught Me About Building an Aligned Life
- Vanessa Marquez-Kramme
- Feb 26
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 28
Not every message deserves your energy. Four ads taught me that — and a lot more about burnout, boundaries, and building an aligned life.
🎧 Prefer to listen? This blog post is available in audio format below.
Note: This audio was created using AI voice technology (ElevenLabs) as part of my commitment to accessible content. I wrote every word, but used AI to narrate it so I could offer this format without burning out.
Good work—whether it's a campaign or a life you're building—speaks to emotions and creates safety. It builds resonance. It builds trust.
Bill Gates said content is king, but you won't have a kingdom without trust.
Trust is king. Content is just the right hand.
Without trust, there's no resonance. No willingness to try what you're offering. No buy-in.
And trust isn't built through innovation for innovation's sake, or shame disguised as motivation, or trying to replace human connection with an algorithm.
It's built when something just works. When it meets you where you are. When it feels like it was made for the version of you that needed it most. And when it feels transparent, not gimmicky.
That's the four ads I'll show you next taught me, and what I'm carrying forward—into campaigns, into coaching, into how I build my own routines and systems.
Here's how I got there.
I've been people-watching ads lately. Not just scrolling or walking past them, but actually stopping to figure out what's working and what's making my eye twitch. I'm in grad school for marketing now, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Of course, I wasn't surprised one bit when my brain started blurring the lines of "this is a marketing lesson" and "this is a coaching aha moment"—after all, life is interconnected.
The same principles that make an ad stick (or completely bomb) show up in how we build our routines, choose our tools, and decide what deserves our energy.
So, let's talk about four campaigns I've been obsessed with: two that absolutely nail it, and two that should probably never have seen the light of day.
Because whether you're here for marketing intel or coaching wisdom, these four ads have a remix of both.
The Good Lessons:
PNC Bank: In Defense of Boring
First, let's talk about an ad that's been in Port Authority for a bit, and that I think is genius. PNC Bank wants to remind us that boring is good. To me, the ad stands out not only for its boldness but also for its stark contrast with the Port Authority/Times Square digital screens buzzing with innovation, entertainment, and overstimulation.
In a space where busy commuters pass by, seeing this ad could signal: among all the things you have to do and all the tasks you have to worry about, money should not be one of them. Your money is safe and growing when you choose PNC.
These are a few of the elements used in this campaign. They work well, firstly, because they are visually cohesive with the brand. They are also simple, and the big idea (PNC being boring) is clear.
The Marketing Takeaway:
In banking, many competitors are focusing on innovation and seamlessness of their latest technology. And I appreciate how PNC Bank went back to basics and reined us in with a simple, emotional message: we don't need banks to be super creative; we need them to be stable and take care of our money so we can innovate, enjoy, and live knowing our money is safe. I would consider banking here if I ever needed to switch banks—I have Capital One, and their travel perks keep me there, but if PNC sent me one of those promotions that give you $200 for opening a checking account, I'd probably go for it.
The Coaching Aha Moment:
Not everything in your life needs an overhaul. Not everything needs to be optimized, elevated, or made aesthetic.
Some things — your routines, your systems, some of your goals — exist to be boring. To be steady. To provide structure so you can play, innovate, and live wildly where it matters.
Your vegetable rotation doesn't need to be innovative. You can try new things, sure, but at the end of the day, the goal is nutrition. If you have 3-4 veggies that work and you don't have the bandwidth to "go the extra mile," just eat your 3-4 veggies.
Your exercise doesn't need to be the new hot-cold-yogalates studio that just opened across town.
Your sleep routine doesn't need seven steps.
Your gratitude practice doesn't need a system on top of a system.
Boring is good where it matters. It frees up your energy for the stuff that actually lights you up.
Credit One: The Credit Wreckers
Another ad I've been loving is (in the same realm of banking) the animated series of "The Credit Wreckers" from Credit One. I broke this one down for a mini presentation at my Campaign I class with Professor Judith Klein, and will tackle it here again because it lives rent-free in my brain (and heart).
Credit One's animated series, "The Credit Wreckers," features cartoon characters embodying credit-damaging behaviors—maxing out cards, missing payments, falling for every store card offer. It's funny, it's engaging, and it sneaks financial literacy into your brain without making you feel like you're sitting in a budgeting seminar.
(Yes, I have thoughts about Credit One capitalizing on their name/logo similarities to Capital One. Poor form. But this campaign? They scored.)
The Marketing Takeaway:
This ad works because it takes a sensitive, often shame-filled topic—bad credit—and makes it approachable. If your credit isn't in the best shape, or you're new to building it, you can see yourself in these characters without feeling attacked. It's educational without being preachy. It's memorable because it's entertaining.
I'm not their customer now, but this ad speaks to the 20-year-old version of me who desperately needed to learn about credit wreckers. That version of me probably would've become a loyal Credit One customer.
The Coaching Aha Moment:
Sometimes we struggle through things a los coñazos—by trial, error, and sheer force of will. And sometimes, years later, we find resources or information that would've made that struggle so much easier. When that happens, it heals something in us. The part that felt alone. The part that thought we were the only ones who didn't have it figured out.
It's also a reminder: there are many ways to fry an egg. The tools, resources, or approaches you choose don't have to be perfect; they just need to feel supportive. Safe. Like you can trust them.
You don't need to feel "confident" in the cocky, I-know-exactly-what-I'm-doing sense. You need to feel equipped.
Like you have what you need to take the next step, even if you're still figuring it out as you go.
The Cautionary Tales:
Tablet
I saw this in Times Square, and it made me want to throw something at it.
The company is called "Tablet" (good luck finding them online, by the way. I couldn't). The tagline: "Why weight?" (please hold my purse while I go throw up).
Besides the early-2000s mean-girl vibes of the tagline, the cherry on top is that the woman in the ad looks AI-generated. The whole thing feels... off. Insensitive. Like a bad pun that someone thought was clever but is actually just mean and outdated.
Compare this to how Ro, Hers, and other GLP-1 providers talk about weight loss these days — focusing on how you'll feel, what changes in your daily life, and your overall health. There's a bit more nuance and depth in those.
The Marketing Takeaway:
When you're entering a crowded market with established competitors who are doing it well, you can't afford to fumble the basics. Tablet's messaging feels tone-deaf. The creative feels cheap (literally, AI-generated models scream "we didn't invest in this"). And the brand is basically unsearchable because "tablet" and "weight loss" or "GLP1" will return thousands of search results.
I have been on GLP-1s, through my doctor and my normal pharmacy, but if I ever feel like I need GLP-1s in tablet form, I'm going to Hers or Ro. This ad did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to do.
Shame on you for trying to shame me (and the millions of women who transit Times Square every day).
The Coaching Aha Moment:
If something — an ad, a message, a piece of advice — makes you feel like you're at war with yourself, you're allowed to disengage. You're allowed to put it in your mental burn book and keep moving.
And I don't mean the kind of message that puts you in cognitive dissonance because you're viewing life from your lived experience, and something different is entering your field of view. I'm not talking about the uncomfortable truth that lands because you have work to do but haven't started yet.
I mean the type of message that attacks you just because. That makes you feel less than for no reason other than to manipulate you into buying something.
Not every message deserves your attention. Not every "motivational" push is actually motivation — some of it is just manipulation dressed up in a catchy tagline.
Shame doesn't build trust. It doesn't create lasting change. And you don't owe your energy to things that make you feel smaller.
Friend
Lastly, I can't talk about bad campaigns without mentioning what's (in my mind), the winner of the top prize: Friend.
oh, Friend…
This AI-enabled necklace took over several MTA stations last year, promising companionship via an app. The ads were clean — product as hero, necklace front and center. But it wasn't long before the ads were graffitied with messages of discontent, and, honestly, I didn't expect less from NYC.
The Marketing Takeaway:
From a pure creative standpoint, the ad was fine. Visually clean. Product-focused. But the messaging raised immediate red flags about surveillance, overreliance on technology, and the commodification of human connection.
My personal reaction was confusion. I thought the necklace talked to you. Turns out it just listens and texts you back via an app. So it's not even delivering the companionship it claims to offer. 10/10 would not recommend.
The Coaching Aha Moment:
Sometimes we have brilliant ideas with terrible execution.
Friend could've positioned itself in assistive technology — helping folks on the spectrum or with neurodivergencies navigate social cues, decode communication, or feel more supported in daily interactions. But they didn't. They went for "AI companionship" in the loneliest way possible.
Here's the two-part lesson:
Part one: Good ideas need honest execution. If your concept is solid but your approach feels off, it's worth pausing to ask why.
Part two: Learn to distinguish feedback. Some of it will be haters. Some will be loved ones trying to protect you. And some will be actual signal — people pointing out that something in your approach needs to shift. Have the wisdom and courage to know the difference, and move accordingly.
The graffiti on those Friend ads? That was a signal.
What I'm Sitting With: On Building an Aligned Life
How can I build work that's effective, innovative when it needs to be, and still feels like stewardship of something better?
That's the question I'm sitting with — as a marketer, as a coach, and honestly, as a person.
Because the best ads I saw weren't just clever. They were considerate. They understood that what you put into the world lands somewhere — in someone's body, someone's morning commute, someone's tender spot. And they acted like that mattered.
Think about it: Credit One could've taken the same insight about bad credit habits and made it a shame spiral. Wagging a finger at every maxed-out card and missed payment. They didn't. They made it a cartoon. They made it safe to laugh at yourself.
And PNC could've told you they're boring in a way that felt like an insult — like settling. Instead it landed as relief. The same word, the same idea, completely different impact depending on how much the creator considered the person receiving it.
That's the real brief, whether you're building a campaign or a life:
How do you create something that feels new, maybe even better, without losing sight of the impact it has on the people around you? How do you grow without leaving your values — or your people — behind?
The answer isn't universal — it shifts depending on who you are, what you've been through, and what you're building.
In coaching, that's exactly the work: finding your version of it.
In marketing, I think it starts with a simple but easily forgotten principle: people first. Your tactics should be intentional, your message considered, and your impact — on the person receiving it — worth thinking about before you hit publish. And if boring banks and graffitied AI necklaces can teach me that? I'll take it.
If this landed somewhere in your body (not just your brain), that's worth paying attention to.
That feeling? It's a starting point. ARC is where I'd invite you next.
More of a marketing brain? Read more on the blog.
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