Marketing: Thanks, But Stick 'Em Up

Bank Robber Willie Sutton would have been intrigued: the First Bank & Trust of Harrisburg, Ill., is giving away guns. In lieu of cash interest, the bank some time ago began offering a collector's set of three Smith & Wesson revolvers (retail value: $1,300) for new certificates of deposit. To get the guns, a customer can deposit $2,000 for a ten-year term, for example, or $30,000 for six months. The bank estimates that the weapons are worth the equivalent of 10% annual interest over ten years. The idea has been so successful that the bank is now expanding its selection of firepower to include a $1,245 two-piece set of Smith & Wesson handguns: a 9-mm pistol and a .45-cal. automatic. (Gun registration forms must be filled out.)

The unusual promotion was designed to attract depositors from outside Harrisburg (pop. 9,332), a depressed coal-mining town. The gimmick worked: the bank has received inquiries from as far away as Australia and the Soviet Union.