When Is A Credit Card Not Like A Kitten?

I just received one of those pieces of advertising that seems kind of clever when you first read it - but then... No... Fail...

"If kittens make people happy by reducing stress," it says,
---------------
--------------- "why can't a
--------------- credit card?"
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... is the message on the envelope I just got urging me to feed the credit cycle. And when you look at the nice picture of kittens, just for a moment, you think "Awww geee that is so cute!"

Unfortunately that message sends you to too many other places if you think about it...

Firstly there's those kittens. Probably bought on a credit card and now costing money to feed and care for, veterinary expenses, the cute basket they'll outgrow in a few months meaning some more outlay of credit. Remember, credit is money you don't have right now but promise to repay along with extra money you can't afford but which is known as "interest."

Oh yeah. And kittens are made out of fur and flesh, bones and blood. Credit cards are made out of plastic. Bank managers understand plastic, but unfortunately the only thing they know about the other stuff is that it's their job to wring one of the other items out of stones...

Which makes you think of that rock and the hard place in between which you'll find yourself.

So while on the surface this is a very cute and appealing ad campaign, - well - I've decided to decline their offer.