The ad itself is delightfully non-descript, almost as if it came right out of mid-2008, before the whole world of financial services changed. No mention of the fact that Barclays is one of the few banks that has remained in business without government assistance.
It's traditional for Barclays to shoot itself in the foot when firing off a new brand campaign. It cut branches when it claimed to be 'big' in 2001. Then it confused consumers with a series of bizarre ads starring Samuel L Jackson that suggested the bank was 'fluent in finance'.
In 2006 it was at it again, this time promoting the 'Inventive spirit' of Barclays, with a strapline that was already being used by an accounting firm, which promptly sued the bank.
But what could go wrong with the modest claim that Barclays can help you to keep tabs on your finances? Well, true to form, on the day the first ads aired, a whistleblower was busy implicating the bank in a multibillion-pound tax-avoidance scheme.
You can accuse Barclays of many things, but brand inconsistency is certainly not one of them.
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