Banking on Halal

It's unfortunate that my blogging streak shall decide to hit on commercial- link progress, but I do behave in a non-conventional manner so, again like the main purpose of this blog says, don't like it, don't read it......

My latest grouse....

Radio commercial..... (as close to the original to avoid copyright issues...no time to ask for permission to reproduce)

Wife: Sayang, I would like to have a new car.
Husband: But we do not have the money for it.
Wife: But I would really like to have a new car.... *(I'd get rid of her if she was THAT annoying)
Child: Mom....Dad.....Haven't you heard of ****Bank's "Simpan, Dapat Kereta" campaign?
Husband and wife in unison: ****Bank?
Child: Yes, just save 100 ringgit and you stand a chance to win a car.....

bla bla bla.....
Ends with everyone doing that stupid cliched laughter at the end of commercials.

Anyway here is the excerpt of the promotional campaign.

Additional info taken from their website and I quote

"Participation is automatically and be pool by system with just doing minimum saving increase of RM100 at every quarter. What interesting is, no form or slogan is needed to be fill by clients. By just adding minimum savings RM100 in every quarter, clients will qualify to have 1 chances of draw for that quarter.

For the first quarter of the year which is for January-March, prize offered is Perodua Myvi, whereas for second quarter (April-June), prize is enhanced to Toyota Hilux. For the third quarter of the year namely July-September, prize offered is Toyota Camry and for the fourth quarter of the year, which is the grand prize draw, Toyota Fortuner is offered to people. "

Alright....so the above was taken from the spokesperson making a media statement. First and foremost they should edit some of the grammatical errors, but that's not the whole point.

I'll break down the prizes' worth
Perodua Myvi is in the region of RM 40,000
Toyota Hulix in the region of RM 80,000
Toyota Camry is about RM 140,000
Toyota Fortuner is roughly RM 165,000

So let me get this straight....in a country that is so particular about Halal and Haram (please refer to previous blog entry for part 1).... we have a Bank promoting a savings scheme that:

1. Lets you win a car up to the value of RM 165,000 based on a RM 100 deposit.
2. That's a payout ratio of 1:1650
3. The process of winning is by pure random chance
4. No work is required at all. No forms to fill, no slogans to write even!!
5. Free personal accident insurance if provided too

Now I don't know, but in a country so hard up over the Halal issue, we have a bank that is allowed to run the kind of promotion as above.

(mind you....i think its a wonderful promotion......4 different cars to win!! But what about the morality and faith of its customers....they would be affected)

Note the similarity if one were to "invest" in a casino's one arm bandit.
1. Your have a high winning ratio based on a low capital investment
2. Process is by pure random chance
3 A little work is required to pull the arm, or these days to press a button