Big bank advertising

I am in the advertising industry. I know the power of getting your message across in both traditional and online media. I grasp the power of PR. I make my money off of advertising.  Yet for the life of me I do not understand why banking and insurance giants are placing full page ads proclaiming how great they are, how they are smart choices for the new era in finance, etc ad nauseum. What in God’s name do they expect viewers to feel as they write empty ads all while the press and the Prez are all pointing to spending excesses, exec bonuses, and money from the TARP ear-marked for acquisitions? Just this one time, I want to cry, “Stop the advertising and start the lending…. NOW!”