Will Arnett's fintech dig in RBC ad draws fire

Startup founders and employees respond to "track record, not trend" diss with equal parts anger and humour

In the beloved comedy series Arrested Development, Canadian actor Will Arnett played a character who was hated by both of his parents. Now, in a series of RBC ads, he’s starring as a character who has become loathed by Canadian fintech companies and quite possibly a good portion of the viewing public.

One of the ads features Arnett as himself, walking down a street and entering an RBC branch as he relates what Canadians supposedly want from their bank.

As he walks, he passes a man on the street wearing a sandwich board ad that reads “Kule Bank: try our app.” The man tries to hand Arnett a piece of paper but he responds, “Nah, I’m good,” before pointing to the RBC logo and quipping, “track record, not a trend.”

Fintech founders and employees, as well as other financial sector workers, lambasted the ad and its obvious dig this week on social media with equal bits humour and anger.

“I’m super flattered that RBC is thinking of Neo Financial and other ‘trends,’ so this year for Halloween, I’m going as ‘Kule Bank,’” wrote Jeff Adamson, co-founder of Skip the Dishes and Calgary-based fintech Neo Financial, on LinkedIn. “We know change can be scary, but don’t worry. You’ve been around for 200 years and I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

Here’s the ad, which was produced by Los Angeles-based agency Battery:

Daniel Eberhard, chief executive of Toronto-based financial services provider Koho, also recognized the diss by RBC, which is currently jockeying with Shopify for the status of largest company in Canada by market capitalization.

“Dear RBC, It’s pronounced Koho, not Kule and we almost never use paper here, even for ads,” he posted on LinkedIn.

Others on the site were not so measured in their reactions to the ads, which have aired in heavy rotation on Rogers-owned Sportsnet during the Blue Jays playoff run.

“This has to be THE most out of touch add (sic) ever done, and by a company that profited more than $5 billion last quarter on the backs of Canadians,” wrote Roger Hardy, CEO of Vancouver-based investment firm HardyCapital. “Imagine taking that kind of profit out of the country each quarter and then spending it on an add and spokesperson like this that’s so out of touch.”

Toronto-born Arnett, 55, has become a prodigious pitch man, starring in or performing voice overs in commercials for a slew of brands over the past few years, including Freedom Mobile, GMC, Dunkin Donuts, Reese’s, Bank of America and Geico.

He also provided the voice over for the Blue Jays’ hype video ahead of game three of the World Series this past week on behalf of team owner Rogers, though he was notably spotted supporting the Los Angeles Dodgers at last year’s championships.

The airing frequency of the RBC ad itself, as well as a handful of other commercials from the likes of WestJet and Canadian Tire, has also drawn ire from Blue Jays fans. As a Globe and Mail article this weekend points out, fewer advertisers in Canada than in the U.S. means their commercials have been running frequently to the point of ad nauseam (no pun intended) during the playoffs, much to the dismay of viewers.

RBC, Battery and a representative for Arnett did not return requests for comment on the backlash, but Neo Financial co-founder Adamson did try to put a positive spin on it.

“Despite the heavy dilution in Will Arnett’s brand equity, I will still remain an Arrested Development fan,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

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