Card Advertising War Intensifies; Firms Spend $700M on Stars, Mud

More than $700 mil was spent by the credit card industry on advertising in 1996 with Visa International, American Express Co, Discover, and MasterCard International among the leading spenders. Network television accounted for 46% of credit card advertising budgets in 1996, and 49% of ad budgets in the first quarter of 1997. Celebrities were relied upon by many advertisements, and many television ads negatively compared different credit cards, as well.
First of Two Parts With messages ranging from boosterism to mudslinging, and relying on celebrities including Martha Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld, credit card companies spent more than $700 million on [...]