Quicken Loans Super Bowl Ad Telling People To Use Their Home As An ATM Machine Is Drawing Fire 

Quicken Loans has shell-shocked homeowners. They ran an ad for their new Rocket Mortgage product during Superbowl 50. Homeowners who are still recovering from fighting their lenders went into cold sweats and panic attacks. The ad encourages homeowners to essentially use their home as an ATM machine. As one person wrote MFI-Miami to say:

 This ad is essentially like encouraging a drug addict to buy more drugs!

The Quicken Loans Super Bowl ad was for the lender’s new Rocket Mortgage program. Rocket Mortgage allows someone to apply for a mortgage from their phone using a smartphone application.

Homeowners and the Twitterati reacted negatively to the ad. They complained that it preaches reckless lending. They also objected that the message of the ad. The ad implies that reckless borrowing is the American way. The ad also attempts to justify overburdening debt to buy things creates jobs for other people. So they they can use their homes as ATM machines to buy things.

Thus, creating a cycle of overburdening debt for everyone. Sound familiar?

It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

The ad was immediately compared to TV ads by the now defunct Countrywide Financial. Countrywide encouraged homeowners to use the equity in their homes to buy things they really didn’t need.

Quicken Loans immediately attempted to quell fears and comparisons to sub-prime mortgages. Quicken Spinsters began by spinning propaganda on its Twitter page. They began promoting the the the false narrative that Quicken follows all government guidelines. Quicken also claimed they never sold sub-prime loans. This of course, depends on your definition of “sub-prime”.

Industry standards consider anything that does not adhere to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA underwriting guidelines is considered sub-prime. From 2003-2007, Quicken Loans did originate loans that did not adhere to those Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA but that is a subject for another time.

Despite the criticism of the ad, Quicken Loans President and Chief Gilbot Jay Farner told AdAge, that the Super Bowl ad campaign was an overall success saying, “The win was driving folks to the site,”