The Denver-based credit union is using humor and a fictional banking executive to highlight longstanding differences between credit unions and traditional banks.

As tensions between banks and credit unions continue over taxation and industry competition, the $2.7 billion-asset Credit Union of Colorado has launched a marketing campaign that puts a face on what it sees as the excesses of traditional banking.

The Denver-based credit union recently unveiled “Mr. Big Banker,” a fictional executive who cheerfully embraces practices that consumers often criticize about large financial institutions, including hidden fees, teaser rates and opaque pricing. The campaign was developed with independent creative and design agency Grit.

The effort arrives at a time when the relationship between banks and credit unions remains strained. Banks have increasingly challenged the federal tax exemption enjoyed by credit unions, arguing that many have grown large enough to resemble banks while still avoiding federal corporate income taxes. Credit unions counter that their member-owned, nonprofit structure continues to distinguish them from investor-owned banks.

The debate has intensified further as more credit unions have acquired banks in recent years, a trend that has drawn criticism from banking trade groups.

Against that backdrop, Credit Union of Colorado’s latest advertising campaign leans directly into the rivalry.

In the commercials, Mr. Big Banker sits comfortably in executive boardrooms and corner offices while openly discussing tactics that consumers may find frustrating. “We will be increasing fees again,” he says in one ad.” Some people call them hidden fees. I personally wish they were all hidden.”

The ads deliver the campaign’s central message through satire rather than direct comparison.

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The credit union’s premise is straightforward: Consumers already understand many of the frustrations associated with traditional banking. Rather than convincing people that banks can be expensive or impersonal, the campaign seeks to personify those concerns in a single character.

The ads also reflect a broader challenge facing credit unions. While surveys often show high levels of member satisfaction among credit union customers, many consumers remain reluctant to switch financial institutions despite dissatisfaction with their current bank. The inconvenience of moving accounts, updating payment information and changing financial relationships can outweigh the perceived benefits.

By focusing on humor, Credit Union of Colorado appears to be trying to break through that inertia.

The institution serves nearly 170,000 members across Colorado and reported first-quarter earnings of $2.2 million in 2026, up from $1.7 million during the same period a year earlier. According to regulatory filings, the credit union spent $427,000 on marketing and promotion during the first quarter after spending $3.1 million on marketing throughout 2025.

The campaign also reflects a growing willingness among financial institutions to embrace more distinctive branding as competition for deposits and loans intensifies. While banks and credit unions have traditionally favored conservative advertising centered on trust, convenience and service, some institutions have increasingly adopted more pointed messaging to differentiate themselves in crowded markets.

For Credit Union of Colorado, that differentiation comes in the form of a smiling executive who says the quiet part out loud.

The character may be fictional, but the campaign draws on real frustrations that have fueled debate between banks and credit unions for decades. As disputes over taxation, competition and acquisitions continue, the latest salvo is arriving not through regulatory filings or lobbying efforts, but through a sharply tailored marketing campaign aimed directly at consumers.

And in Mr. Big Banker, Credit Union of Colorado has found a spokesman willing to celebrate the very practices it believes customers are eager to leave behind.