Why are they pushing the new $20 bill so hard???

[phillybri]

It's not like people will be boycotting the bills...

I've seen commercials, print ads, billboards, interent pop-ups, you name it...

I'd love to know how much this media campaign to advertise something people will use anyway is actually costing...

http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/main.cfm/currency/landing

[flamingyouth]

1. I was in a Safeway the other day & the checkers wouldn't take it

I was thinking, Hello, have you not seen the trillion ads the Treasury has run? Amazing.

The guy ended up getting really mad and leaving without his groceries...

[Guaranteed]

4. You didn't speak up for him?

LOL

[flamingyouth]

16. I was in another line and on my way out the door

When I heard the commotion. The customer was pretty pissed, as you can imagine.

[JoeMemphis]

7. A manager would've known about the new $20

I would hope so anyway

[Loonman]

9. That's probably why all the ads are running

Seems fairly obvious to me.

[Andy_Stephenson]

2. "I'd love to know how much this media campaign"

something like $30 million. If I am not mistaken.

[mermaid]

29. Not Mistaken

that's what I heard too. and I just got my first look at a new $20 bill two days ago...it's the only one I've seen...and since I don't watch much TV, I haven't seen the ads. But I gotta say, I like the look of the new twenty...I think it's actually pretty snazzy!

Bout time they made our money look interesting.

[Liberator_Rev]

3. Garisson Kheeler's take on Prairie H C:

The new $20 is printer in English on one side and Arabic on the other, because after all half of it is going to be spent rebuilding Iraq!

[fknobbit]

18. I thoght it said

Return to HALLIBURTON!

[beyurslf]

5. I haven't seen one yet.

Maybe I need to go to the ATM :)

[bif]

6. Didn't they just redesign it a couple years ago?

n/t

[phillybri]

8. They did, but they went a step further....

Adding colors, watermarks, etc...

I understand that $20's are the most counterfeited bill, but why do they feel the need to sell the public on them?

[sybylla]

17. They need to educate the public, not sell them on the new bills

I have worked in financial institutions and was absolutely astounded by how uninformed some people were about money and money matters.

The real problem comes in detecting counterfeits. I would hope that people who own businesses who handle cash would have done some educational training on the new money and detecting counterfeits. I would also hope that the financials are working hard to educate people and businesses about the new money. But, as with the last time they changed the style of our paper money, there will be people and businesses who won't accept them as cash because they did not hear of the change.

Whether or not this should take the form of an expensive ad campaign is another question. Seems to me that a couple of PSA's combined with brochures and other documentation available at financial institutions and the post office would have taken care of informing most of the population and probably at less cost.

[OldSoldier]

33. Because people think they're counterfeit!

We got a shipment of the new twenties on Friday--hundreds of them. We put the new twenties in the registers. All the cashiers thought they were sharp.

A few hours later, I had to look at a board so the cashier would know what it was. After identifying it, the guy paid with a hundred and got a couple twenties back. She gave the man two new twenties. "Those are counterfeit. Give me real money." We marked them with the counterfeit detection pen. Genuine American currency. "I don't care what your pen says, those are counterfeit, give me real money." Fortunately for all concerned, I had two really old twenties with me--the ones before the redesign started. I swapped my two old ones for two new ones (he wanted to know why I would exchange real money for counterfeit; I said I knew someone who'd take them off my hands for me) and he was a happy man.

Later, I did find someone who'd take them off my hands for me; I went to a dark alley and exchanged one of them for gasoline and the other for cat food.

[Padraig18]

10. The reason: short answer.

It has new colors, looks different in other respects, etc., and they are trying to educate the populace about those things.

[speckledgator]

11. I was wondering

about this myself....since when do you need to advertise money????
Strange

[Buns_of_Fire]

30. You only need to advertise

if you plan to sell them on eBay for $29.95 each. (Hmmmmm..... :think: Hey, some fool would probably buy a few of them at that price!)

That being said, I would think that it's more so people won't be blindsided by the new look and start chewing out the kids for leaving the Monopoly money laying around again.

[soothsayer]

12. since the old bills are still in circulation, you can still counterfeit

them ad infinitem! How does this help, I wonder?

[WoodrowFan]

23. the old bills wear out in about 18 months on average

so after a couple years any "new" looking old bill would automatically raise suspicion. It's not intended to be a short term fix.

[graham67]

13. They're ugly as sin!

Even the tellers at my bank think they look like monopoly money. :D

I've had quite a few cashiers look at them strangely but no one has refused one yet. :shrug:

[Drifter]

14. Redisign of new bills ...

to thwart Counterfeiting will not work until you remove the old ones from circulation.

If I was a Counterfeiter, I would be laughing my ass off. You just keep Counterfeiting the old style bills.

And as another posted. Didn't they just design all (or some) of the major bills just a few years ago ?

If they wanted to change something, they would get rid of the fucking penny, it is worthless, and more people "collect" them to see how many they can get.

Cheers
Drifter

[LizW]

41. I hate pennies

I'm trying to rid my house of them, and they still multiply like crazy. My husband had about five jars of them when we got married. They're in the basement 14 years later because we refuse to roll them.

If I get them in change, I try to always leave them in the "penny cup" at stores.

[quisp]

15. One significant change

is that they switched the arrows and olive branch around. It used to be the eagle held the olive branch in the right talon and the arrows in the left talon. Now that premptive war is our national policy it's shoot first, make peace later.

[Clark Can WIN]

20. Your kidding.

Bizzre, sounds like the minutia type shit they would worry about before........mmmmmmm I dunno, working up an EXIT strategy.

[elfwitch]

21. I read about this too...

It is really creepy.

[WoodrowFan]

26. it's meaningless.

just a variation on the old urban legend about how the direction of the eagle's head means we are at war or not..

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/turnhead.htm

[LizW]

42. What about the buffalo?

I always heard that some Republican cabinet member years ago tried to get the design of the "buffalo" nickel changed so the buffalo faced "right" instead of "left". Is that one a myth?

[windlight]

19. has anyone seen one yet?

I had got one out of the ATM Sat. and it just doesn't 'feel' like money. When i get brand new money i normally crinkle it so it doesn't stick to anything and these new 20 wad up like a piece of paper (unlike the last set of bills which still 'felt' right and waded the same as older bills did)

[graham67]

25. Yep, I've gotten some from an ATM

They feel very odd. That was the first thing I notice when I pulled them out of the slot. It wasn't just the "new money" feel...they feel kind of rough in texture compared to the older bills.

[OneBlueSky]

22. the coming currency devaluation . . . anything to this? . . .

http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_03/droke101003.html

(snip)

"So what is the significance of this change of color in the U.S. $20 note? Well according to the Feds it is designed as a deterrent to stop counterfeiters. But accordingly to currency analyst Lawrence Patterson, who authored the 1994 monograph titled "Currency Recall", which accurately forecast the new multi-colored notes, the new colored money is part of a two-tiered currency system that will have drastic implications for investors and non-investors alike here in the U.S.

"Patterson calls the new notes "crayola currency" and claims they will circulate domestically while the normal green currency that we've grown accustomed to will circulate offshore all over the globe. According to commentator Terry Savage, "Two-thirds of the U.S. paper currency is circulating in foreign countries." With the coming two-tiered currency system, foreigners will continue to be allowed to use the greenback while U.S. citizens will be stuck with the "crayola currency" which cannot be exchanged.

"Patterson forecasts the coming use of foreign exchange controls for the U.S. dollar domestically, which would prohibit Americans from transferring capital to any other world currency. Again, this is discussed in Patterson's now-classic monograph "Currency Recall" (which I've read and highly recommend to students of currency policy and investors seeking to retain the value of their investments).

"Patterson states, "I want every one...to think carefully about this...because we are coming very, very close to the end of the freely convertible domestic dollar. They cut in value could be as much as 50%...I believe those holding gold bullion bars offshore and bullion coins domestically will be very surprised to find that special regulations will prohibit them from profiting."

(snip)

"Obviously, the introduction of the new peach-colored $20 bill is a test on the American public to see how they respond to the drastic new changes. The CNN/Money article states that the BEP has launched a multi-million dollar promotional campaign aimed at gaining public acceptance of the new currency. For example, the twenties are being featured on game shows, including "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy," sporting events, like ESPN's college football telecasts. The bills are also part of some consumer product tie-ins, according to CNN/Money, and pictures of the bills will be on the side of bags of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish. If the government succeeds in getting the American public to accept the bills, the other remaining denominations will obviously follow and plans will proceed for the blocked domestic dollar."

- much more . . .

http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest_03/droke101003.html

[WoodrowFan]

24. Nonsense

the same old RW gold crap designed to sell gold to the gullible. Since ALL the new 20s will look like this it's utter nonsense to say they'll only be used in the US while the "old" bills will be used outside. The old bills will wear out overseas as well. :eyes:

[OneBlueSky]

28. yeah, that's kinda my feeling, too . . .

but with this administration, anything is possible . . .

[Brian Sweat]

32. The person who wrote this has no concept of how money works.

This person clearly thinks that the the treasury prints a bill for every dollar that exists on paper. The truth of the matter is that that the amount of U.S. currency that exists in the form of actualy printed money is a tiny fraction of the amount of U.S. money that exists on paper. Converting U.S. money to the money of any other country can be done without ever exchancing a single bill.

[slaveplanet]

38. In defense of OBS

The other duers reply's to this thread are true...that is until you factor in
Senate Bill S.2158



Those who cannot imagine that there will be one currency used internally and a different U.S. dollar used externally outside the United States will need to read Lawrence Patterson's book.
Among other things, you will learn of the super secret currency printing plant set up north of Fort Worth, TX and the ominous way in which this plant is run. The Los Alamos National Laboratory doesn’t have anywhere near the security systems. THIS is the plant - - that has printed the MULTICOLORED dollars to be the backbone of the new monetary system.

This new monetary system has been detailed in a Senate Bill S.2158. The bill waits to be passed, at the last moment when it is needed. It is now being ruthlessly put into place by the U.S. Treasury Dept. A BLOCKED CURRENCY is coming - - this is also discussed and explained in detail. This is the system that is used when a country runs out of money and has no alternative but to devalue against those countries to which it is deeply in debt. Chapter 5 discusses IN DETAIL how Americans will be affected by this DUAL CURRENCY SYSTEM.

[slaveplanet]

40. s. 2158

103d CONGRESS

2d Session

Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. (introduced 5/25/1994)      Cosponsors: 1-Sen Kerry, John F. - 5/25/1994
Latest Major Action: 5/25/1994 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking.

S. 2158 (edited for briefness) further detail-
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c103:S.2158:

SEC. 3. COUNTERFEIT-RESISTANT $100 DENOMINATION CURRENCY.
(a) IN GENERAL- Subchapter II of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`Sec. 5123. Counterfeit-resistant $100 currency

`(d) DOMESTIC USE AND NONDOMESTIC USE CURRENCY- Beginning on the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this section--

`(1) domestic use currency issued in accordance with this section shall be recognized as constituting a negotiable claim against the United States Treasury only when presented within the United States, and shall constitute legal tender for any debts, public or private, only when presented in the United States, but such currency may be exchanged for equal values of $100 denomination nondomestic use currency (or other United States currency) only at financial institutions regulated by United States law and subject to United States currency transaction reporting and other money laundering deterrence requirements; and

`(2) nondomestic use currency shall be recognized as constituting a negotiable claim against the United States Treasury, and legal tender for any debts, public or private, only when presented outside of the United States, but such currency may be exchanged for equal values of $100 denomination domestic use currency (or other United States currency) at financial institutions regulated by United States law and subject to United States currency transaction reporting and other money laundering deterrence requirements.

[Serial Mom]

27. Ad campaigns

using buzz words too!

I notice they say "security" like 5 times in each commercial and saw it in print too!. Everything is "security", homeland, military, etc. etc.

I am so sick to death of this administration treating everything like a corporate ad campaign or PR work!. This is the government, not a corporation!

:puke:

[OldSoldier]

34. Dubya said he was going to run the government like a corporation

He just didn't tell us he runs them into the ground.

[E Pluribus Unum]

31. I read where the gov is spending $33 million

marketing the new $20 bill. Our wonderful government at work
wasting money.

[SahaleArm]

43. I bet...

the cost of fighting counterfeits is much greater than $33 million. I was once denied the use of a two dollar bill at Taco Bell:).

[Gman]

35. I don't think it's being pushed so hard as much

as it is an education campaign. There were reports when it first came out of vendors refusing to take it. It is radically different from the old $20 bill with the colors and all.

[killbotfactory]

36. So enough people know it's not fake

that it won't cause problems.

[zbdent]

37. It just hit me - If a Dem "pumped a bunch of money into the economy"

like this, they would call it inflationary.

Ever get the feeling that the Bush misAdministration is printing up more bills, and the inflation is going to hit the fan? The new look could signal an influx of money to the point that it's worth less (soon to be worthless).

[tom_paine]

39. It is only fitting that we get new money for this new nation we're buildin

The new $20 is Imperial Money.

It is only fitting that we should no longer spend money made during the Days of the Old Republic.