Wells Fargo thought they were being cute. A new series of ads — promoting “teen financial education day” — showed (of course) happy young people.
One headline read: “A ballerina yesterday. An engineer today.”
Another: “An actor yesterday. A botanist today.”
The idea — that to become successful one should jettison the arts, and focus on something much more STEM-related — was not cute. It was idiotic.
Josh Groban, Anthony Rapp, and tons more folks — famous and not — pounced, on social media.
Almost as quickly, Wells Fargo apologized. The company said they were “deeply committed to the arts,” admitting that ads intended to “celebrate all the aspirations of young people…fell short of that goal.”
No word on whether the Post Road branch plans to make a nice contribution to the Westport Arts Center.
The Wells Fargo Westport branch.
FUN FACT: There’s another area connection to this story. Remember the “Wells Fargo Wagon” song in “The Music Man”? That show is Staples Players’ fall production. Enjoy!
(Hat tip: Lee Scharfstein)
