Banking on Halloween
Thomas J. Madden, Chairman and CEO, Transmedia Group
Walking into your neighborhood bank branch is not a very electrifying experience.Often eerily quiet and on the darkish side, banks are pretty somber, dull places, right? So why wouldn’t you think of bankers as creepy. Scary. Halloweenish! Thinking about this while making a deposit at Bank of America the other day managed to break the silence and get me the biggest laugh I ever got at a bank branch.I was trying to cheer up a few overworked, near dazed tellers coping with what is probably the most monotonous job on earth--taking in money and dishing it out like so many hamburgers at McDonalds.They’re a compelling argument for cryptocurrency.“So Mr. Madden, what are you going to be this Halloween?” my bemused teller sleepily inquires as she robotically marks up my deposit slip.I thought for a second and blurted out:I’m going dress like a Bank of America executive and scare the hell out of people! (laughter)Can you imagine a banker trick or treating, holding a bag out for you to make a deposit in? (more laughter)The remark lights up blank faces, widens weary eyes and evokes the loudest bursts of laughter I’ve ever heard at a bank.Not only did tellers laugh out loud, but a cute girl cracks up next to me.With their somber suits, dark ties, stoic faces and sometimes ghostly manners, I was implying a bank executive would make a credibly creepy Halloween costume.Funny in a strange way, right?Like a lot of humor, there was that creepy kernel of truth striking a comedy chord.It was daytime, not late night, but I was like customer Colbert depositing a blockbuster joke.
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About the Author: Thomas Madden is CEO of TransMedia Group, one of the largest independent PR firms in Florida, where it currently operates. The firm’s clients have included AT&T, American Red Cross, City of New York, GL Homes, Jordache Enterprises, McCormick and Schmick’s, Rexall Sundown, Stanley Steemer.
