"Montana Bob," financed through voluntary contributions from CUs in the state, began airing March 19 and will continue through the second week of May, said Satre. So far 70% of the state's 65 CUs have agreed to participate.

Bob commercials use a combination of humor and down home identification following the pattern of "Utah Bob" which conveys a positive CU message and image and in Utah was keyed off the fierce battles with the banking industry during 2003-04.

The Montana Network said its commercials titled, "Montana's Credit Unions, The Difference: YOU" feature Bob "talking to folks about the credit union difference as they go about their daily routines."

"The upbeat campaign uses humor to spread the word about credit unions and the benefits of belonging to one," said the network. "As Bob says in the TV and radio ads: 'We're not for profit, we're for you!'"

The campaign relies on a blue-colored "YOU" logo to reinforce the idea that as a CU member-owner, "it's all about YOU."

Charles Abell, president/CEO of the $740 million Whitefish Credit Union, the state's largest said though his CU has been willing to help finance the cost of the campaign, he admits being lukewarm about ad effectiveness.

"I had two people comment on the ads: one said he knew about credit unions already and the other said he didn't quite understand the message," said Abell maintaining his preference would be for co-op CU ads to be "less entertaining, more factual and a little more down to earth."

In supporting the campaign, however, Abell said Whitefish paid the $5,000 licensing fee and contributed another $10,000. Satre said the reaction from Montanans has been positive with CU executives getting a chance to view the commercials at a booth at the Montana Credit Union Network's annual meeting held two weeks ago in Missoula.

She said the network has hired, what she called an all-purpose Missoula agency, WestRidge Creative to handle media buys.

Meanwhile the New Jersey League said its Bob ads have been on hiatus since the end of 2006, but plans are being made to resume airing once all of 2007 financing is firmed up.

"We're between Philadelphia and New York and so these are pretty expensive markets," said Sharon Dilling, director of marketing and communications for the league.

The new media plan is to get Bob ads aired by June or July with a Pennington, N.J. firm, S. D. T. Media hired for ad buys. –[email protected]