One more potential (totally unscientific) sign of recovery, or at least a possible sign of the thawing of credit markets: the return of the happy lender dance ads.
I’m referring, of course, to the hypnotic, gyrating, seizure-inducing Flash ads like this one:
During the credit bubble, these ads were everywhere. Fan sites and blogs sprang up in devotion (or annoyance). Then as the credit markets began to freeze up, Experian/LowerMyBills began cutting its advertising.
Up until today, I hadn’t seen these once-ubiquitous ads in about a year. But I just had a sighting on Calculated Risk, which ran a happy-lender-dance banner ad reading, “Obama Backs Insurance Regulation.” Still, it may be too soon to know whether the ads — like the economy and credit markets they’re intertwined with — are truly staging a comeback.
I never stopped seeing those ads, especially on weather.com. Maybe they’re too cheap to cancel, which would not be a good sign.
Your Name Required
Your E-mail Required, will not be published
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Your CommentComments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.
Apture allows readers to dig deeper into a subject without ever leaving the blog post. When you click on any link marked by the icons , , or , you will be able to view video, reference materials, images and other related media. Please e-mail your feedback and thoughts on this feature to apture@nyt.com.
David Leonhardt writes the Economic Scene column, which appears in The Times on Wednesdays.
Catherine Rampell is the economics editor at nytimes.com.
R.M. Schneiderman is a Web producer for nytimes.com.
Marc Lacey is The Times's bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
Carter Dougherty is a European economic correspondent for The Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Economists offer readers insights about the dismal science.
Economics doesn't have to be complicated. It is the study of our lives "” our jobs, our homes, our families and the little decisions we face every day. Here at Economix, David Leonhardt, Catherine Rampell and other contributors will analyze the news and use economics as a framework for thinking about the world. We welcome feedback, at economix@nytimes.com.
Should the government pass another stimulus package? Watch two economists debate the issue, then click here to submit a question.
How the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program is being doled out.
Three economists explain what worked and what didn't.
A map of unemployment rates across the United States, now through January.
Faces, numbers and stories from behind the downturn.
A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible.
A series exploring the origins of the financial crisis, from Washington to Wall Street.
The Times just launched a new consumer advocate column called The Haggler, and we need your help to get it off the ground "” and to keep it aloft.
In order to view this feature, you must download the latest version of flash player here. var so = new SWFObject('http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/20081008-credit-charts-graphic/credit3.1.swf','nytSWF',337,385,9,'#FFFFFF'); so.addParam('allowScriptAccess','always'); so.addParam('allowFullScreen','true'); so.addParam('BASE','http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/20081008-credit-charts-graphic/'); so.addVariable('allowCaching',true); so.write('embed70'); #embed70{visibility:visible !important;}h2.multiHeadline {font-size:156% !important;padding:0px 0px 7px !important;margin:6px 6px 11px 3px !important;border-bottom:1px solid #CCCCCC !important;}
In order to view this feature, you must download the latest version of flash player here. fl = new Object(); fl.id = '667'; fl.swf = 'http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/HOUSING_PRICES_GRAPHICS/housing337.swf'; fl.base = 'http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/HOUSING_PRICES_GRAPHICS/'; fl.width = '337'; fl.height = '300'; fl.as = '3'; fl.domain = 'www'; fl.caching = 'true'; fl.vars = []; writeNYTFlash(fl); #embed667{visibility:visible !important;} Archive Select Month August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 Feeds Economix RSS Home World U.S. N.Y. / Region Business Technology Science Health Sports Opinion Arts Style Travel Jobs Real Estate Autos Back to Top Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS First Look Help Contact Us Work for Us Media Kit Site Map function apture_onload() { apture.addCallback(apture.WINDOW_OPEN, function() { dcsMultiTrack('DCS.dcssip','www.nytimes.com','DCS.dcsuri','/blogs/Apture.html','WT.ti','Apture','WT.z_dcsm','1'); }); } if (typeof NYTD.Blogs.user != 'undefined') { if(NYTD.Blogs.user.isLoggedIn()) { var dcsvid=NYTD.Blogs.user.getId(); var regstatus="registered"; } else { var dcsvid=""; var regstatus="non-registered"; } } var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-4406282-67"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview(); if((document.referrer).indexOf(document.location.hostname) == -1) { var referrer = document.referrer; } else { var referrer = ''; } document.write(''); Read Full Article »