Slashdot Mirror
Bank Cancels Titillating Promotion
In an attempt to teach safe depositing practices, students at the Institute of Technology Tallaght in south Dublin were offered tickets to attend an "exotic" show for opening a new account with Ulster Bank. After parents accused the bank of "stooping to a new low" to attract young customers, and a women's group raised concerns, the bank canceled the promotion. "In line with Ulster Bank's ongoing support for student events across the country, we can confirm that as part of our student campaign in IT Tallaght we promoted a freshers' week event to be held at the Metro bar. Ulster Bank has no involvement in the organisation of this event and once the nature of the event was realised, the bank immediately withdrew any association with the event," said a spokeswoman.
Banks in Ireland usually troll university campuses in Ireland during the first weeks of the term, looking to reel in a good few first year students. They typically offer all kinds of sweeteners to go with their account; mobile phone credit, tickets, often cold hard cash. Ulster Bank are particularly keen to attract students, as they're looking to expand their position relative to the larger banks; Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank.
People may think Ireland is a conservative country, but the Celtic Tiger years have changed the culture enough that Ulster Bank/Student's Union were probably pretty confident in pulling this off. Student culture here is fairly permissive in Ireland (people can drink at 18), due in combination to old Irish attitude to craic and also significantly to the influence of English red tops and their "Lad/Ladette culture".
I would be confident of two things. 1) This stunt was conceived and delivered by someone in the DIT Student's union looking to get re-elected.
2) Someone in Ulster Bank management was well aware of the nature of the scheme.
May the Maths Be with you!
WHat's a babque? Sounds Indian.
Un-news-iest post on /. ever.
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The "Celtic Tiger" is dead
That doesn't mean those heady years haven't had an impact on the culture.
"drinking at 18 isn't failry permissive"
When I was 18 it _was_ the drinking age (this is in NY). Land of the free my ass.
This is true ... and the rapid abandonment by corporations is having a huge negative impact now, after people abandoned their caution and took part in the global debt frenzy. They'd be better off financially now if the Celtic Tiger had never happened. At least they would better afford to drink their sorrows away.
We're all paying for the last decade's foolishness, and so will the next generation.
We're all paying for the last decade's foolishness, and so will the next generation.
I'm sure you had a point about culture in this somewhere and aren't just commenting on financial shennanigans. However, I'm failing to find it.
The whole last decade of stupidity was caused by a culture of greed, entitlement, and short-sightedness. A culture that encouraged the mindset that you don't have to actually produce something of value, just load up on debt and pretend you're an "investor." The millions of people who thought nothing of committing criminal acts such as fraud by lying on their mortgage applications, those who knowingly enabled them, those who knew it was ultimately unsustainable but did it because "everyone else is doing it", and those who now defend any sort of bail-out for any of them - even Warren Buffet is profiting from the bail-out (which explains why he pushed so hard for it).
This is the new "American Way" - irresponsible, avoiding the clearly foreseeable consequences of your actions, and getting others to pay for them. Where the "fix" for the debt problem is still more debt - which just compounds the problem. Shove the problem onto the next generation, same as energy and pollution. And don't fix health care - not as long as "I've got mine, Jack!"
Like all problems, this one will self-correct. The cost will be high - it'll probably involve both the default of the US on its' debt, which, along with environental and social crisis, will set in motion the eventual break-up over the next 50 years into several regional "nations" - maybe under a new US Federation, maybe some joining Canada and Mexico; who can say for sure at this time?
But yes, it's a reference to the moral and social decay that allowed a whole nation to destroy their economic future in what devolved into a get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme.
But yes, it's a reference to the moral and social decay that allowed a whole nation to destroy their economic future in what devolved into a get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme.
Nice rant aside, you're not actually claiming that Ireland has changed it's cultural attitude nor denying that the "Celtic Tiger" period had an effect on it.