WDEF News 12

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The U.S. Treasury Department uses education to try to fight the growing credit crisis.

The Treasury teamed up with the AD Council to impart some important information to young adults.

The central message...don't let your credit put you in a bad place. It's a place you don't want to be.TV Ad, "You look lost. Come to solve the great mystery of credit?"

The Bad Credit Hotel.

It's part of a multimedia campaign meant to catch the attention of young people 18 to 24 years old.

"Thank you for overlooking my credit I was in college and I charged up a whole bunch of things that I really couldn't afford."

From TV

Radio Ad, "Did everyone hear that this person right here credit card declined if we can please have an awkward silence."

To Radio.

Online Game, "Contact your creditors immediately if you're having trouble making ends meet."

and even online.

The campaign aims to encourage young people to take control of their credit.

Alisha Morris, UTC Sophomore, "A lot of my friends have credit cards. When they say cash or credit, they just swipe it out."

It's a lesson that students tell us is needed on today's campuses where there's a different meaning to college credit.

Steve Aluoch, UTC Sophomore, "We try to get credit cards so we can get extra money to help us like buy books or if we don't have lunch and stuff like that."Meghan O'Dea, UTC Senior, "There were a few good ploys like offering free pizza down at UPG if you sign up."

This type of credit comes so easy, many students can't resist using and abusing it.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services Charles Hixon says they end up in a vicious debt cycle that they may never recover from.

Charles Hixon, "It can impact them getting a loan for a house it might even impact a job that they might apply for and can't get because of a lot of debt or because maybe they filed a bankruptcy early in life."

He says education is the key to preventing that outcome and to closing down the Bad Credit Hotel.

Click here for the controlyourcredit website. [2]

Click here for the ads. [3]

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