Capital One’s series of hilarious Huns commercials are one of the most memorable commercial series from the early 2000s.
This classic Huns commercial shows an army of barbarians invading a shopping mall.
The commercial works for a variety of reasons. The time time, the film Gladiator had just come out, so people were thinking a lot about gladiators, invaders, and this style of cinematography.
The commercial also works because it builds on a single word. When the husband says “brutal” in relation to credit cards’ interest rates, this provokes an invasion of truly brutal barbarians.
The brutality of the hoard (which comes to represent interest rates) is ultimately stopped by the sanity of Capital One’s credit card, which at the time was tied to Prime interest rates. The card becomes a kind of “shield” against the brutality of the hoard, and of high credit rates.
Beyond that, the commercial is funny because it plays on stereotypes of visiting malls, especially around the busy holiday season. The viewer can imagine how a real mall might react to an invading hoard of barbarians.
One lady tries to spray each invader with perfume as they walk past, while a board teenager stacks Huns toys as real huns run by.
The commercial is also notable because it uses the What’s in Your Wallet? slogan which remains Capital One’s slogan today.
