Do you have an advertisement that gets under your skin because it's ubiquitous? The underwhelming "Coke Is It" ad in the 1980s drove my dad nuts (his career was advertising).

For me these days, it's the constant Rocket Money ads on podcasts, YouTube, who knows where else - those are the only two places I run into advertising lately.

It's not really the commercials themselves that annoy me, it's the product. They're solving a problem most people don't really have.


What Is It?

The idea behind Rocket Money is that all of us apparently have multiple subscriptions running every month that we're not aware of. You pay them and grant access to your banking information, and they're supposed to find savings like multiple paid Spotify accounts or monthly charges for WNBA TV or who knows what.

You know another way you can find out what subscriptions you have? Look at your bank account. DONE.

This drives me crazy. They're monetizing laziness. Even being charitable if during month #1 they find a couple of charges, what in the world is the value proposition in month #3 after you've removed those extra subscriptions?

Is this is a real world problem?


Even Worse

Earlier I said we were looking at the idea or Rocket Money charitably. Now it's time for some real talk. Rocket Money is owned by Rocket Mortgages and their real business is getting access to your banking data. Not to steal it, but to learn from it. Sure, that's free data for them to analyze.

But they really just want to review your spending and look at your potential financial needs before they occur. Look at what your bank info tells the good people at Rocket:


Now they can market to you at a critical early stage before other financial instruments. THAT'S the value of Rocket Money.

Even if they charged you $0/month, it's worth it for them. They charge you something, primarily, so you don't start wondering if it's a scam.

If you really want to grant somebody access to your bank account, it might as well be Experian Boost who can do that to raise your credit score for you.


Audience Fit

Why are podcasts such a great ad platform for them? Live ad reads from podcast hosts.

There's a real intimacy between podcast listeners and hosts. I contend it's the audio connection when they're with you on dog walks, at the grocery store and while you're washing the dishes. Less so for video/YouTube podcasts where the ads seem like ads.

Podcast creators get more money for live reads than they do for pre-recorded commercials, so podcasters love it. And advertisers love it because podcast hosts are trusted.

Additionally, every podcast has a fairly-easy-to-predict demographic. Apparently, I'm in the demographic of people who have an insane amount of unmonitored bank charges because I hear these ads all the time.


Solving Problems That Don’t Exist

Madison Avenue has made great money over the years off of solving problems that don't exist. "Ring around the collar" was not the rampant problem that commercials purported. The "Un-tuck It" shirt was not a confounding fashion predicament that needed to be fixed.

Moreover, ad campaigns over the years created markets and expectations that didn't exist. You know when the tradition of engagement rings started? In the 1930's when the good people at De Beers introduced the idea. And have we all just blindly accepted bottled water as a society?


Marketing Perspective

It's a weak, and almost offensive, value proposition once you think about it for a minute. That's what really sets me off about it.

Subscription culture is here to stay because companies have learned what gyms have known for years - the real money is in charging people who never actually use your services.

The convenience over necessity trend has turned me into a crank for years. Don't get me started on "Lunchables". What in the world are we doing where we can't grab a serving of a snack from a large bag and put it into a small bag to take it to lunch?


Conclusion / Takeaway

Of course, advertising works in repetition, and I listen to more podcasts than the next guy, so maybe this is more my cross to bear.

I am rarely the financial voice of reason, but when it comes to Rocket Money, I know that I'm on the right side of history. Sure, maybe this article comes off as a rant. But the first week that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Rocket Money in some future political administration, I'll be linking this article and circling the date.