Scary Movie Night

Public Citizen and Americans for Fairness in Lending teamed up to invite people host a scary movie night in the spirit of Halloween.  We offered to supply hosts with a copy of Maxed Out (while supplies lasted), our report "The Arbitration Trap: How Credit Card Companies Ensnare Consumers," a discussion guide and party favors if they invited friends and family over to share horror stories of consumers being haunted by credit card companies.

The response has been amazing.  From Alaska to Maine and from Wisconsin to Texas, people signed up to host movie nights.  And they are not just happening in living rooms.  People are hosting movie nights at high schools, universities, churches, community centers and even one overseas military base.  Before long, we ran out of our supply of free DVDs, but people still wanted to educate others about this issue and so either bought or rented a copy to screen.

Here is some of the feedback we have received from hosts so far:

"My guests and I couldn't believe what credit card companies are doing with these arbitration clauses.  I cut my card up and am looking for one that does not use them."
-Michael from Illinois

"I've decided to cut back on my credit card use because I'm furious with the shady business tactics they use with us. I'm really glad I signed up for the movie night and will try to reorganize it again for maximum effect."
-Holiday from California

"Maxed Out movie night was great! ...we paused the movie several times to discuss what the movie was talking about...We have decided to get involved with the college and high school kids and make this a huge event."
-Nanette from Oregon

Interested in hosting a Maxed Out Movie Night?  Sign up here.  If you find a copy of Maxed Out, we will send you an event kit with everything you will need.

Comments

[Karen]

We had our movie night last night, and everyone really enjoyed the movie. This weekend, one of my guests is going to borrow the movie to share with some friends. My 20 year old daughter who was unable to make it last night is in line to watch it with her boyfriend. Another guest also wants to take it home to share with her boyfriend who has a sizable credit card debt. I have two extra copies of the report and pamphlets to share. We included a sit down dinner as part of our event, which gave us some good discussion time. Our discussion went everywhere from the origins of capitalism to how “good” the financial industry is at stacking the deck against consumers, and also about how the policies of the Bush administration encourage this type of assault on lower income citizens. We also all realized how ignorant we are about the policies of the credit industry. We did not get a chance to take pictures, but everyone left wearing their Public Citizen pins! Thank for sharing this important information with us.

[Cartao Visa]

Thank for the important info. Keep the good work