This past weekend I watched the documentary “Maxed Out”  (trailer here)based off the book of the same name by James Scurlock. I definitely recommend this movie to those, like me, trying to get out of credit card debt and also to parents of kids heading off to college (where it seems to all begin).

From time to time, you need motivation to keep going and keep sacrificing quick hits of happiness to really pay down debt. This movie motivates in two ways:

1. It scares the hell out of you. (i.e. 57 year old woman talking about how she’s considered suicide because she’s in so much emotional pain as a cause of her debt burden)
2. It shines a light on what you, as a consumer, are really up against.

As you can imagine, the credit card industry is a well-oiled machine and they know where to pull and push in order to get the maximum from each and every card holder. It’s really amazing to think of how calculating the system they have created has become.

As I watched, I couldn’t help but think about how the banking and credit card industry advertise their products – both in commercials and disgustingly blatant in-show placements. The goal of advertising and branding is to give a brand a personality – something that makes you feel a certain way and help you develop an emotional connection to them or their product(s).

Credit cards and banks do this very well. Their ads and slogans (Bank of America = Bank of Opportunity) make you believe that they’re friendly companies that just want to help you enjoy your life on your terms. They make dreams come true and are in your corner through good times and bad.

After watching Maxed Out, it’s clear that nothing could be further from the truth.