What do Wikileaks, PayPal and Charles Barkley Have in Common?

When it comes to making ads, fake ads and promotional videos, it seems everyone but the banks has a sense of humor.

Make me laugh.

If Julian Assange, a pack of zombies and the Round Mound of Rebound can do it, why can't banks?

Take for instance "Zombie Apocalypse," a video produced by the PayPal community that shows the electronic payments provider's role as a survival tool in the postapocalyptic future.

If zombies aren't your bag, check out this little advertisement Wikileaks put together a couple weeks ago lampooning MasterCard's classic "Priceless" ad campaign.

And, yes, in case you were wondering, that was Julian Assange, the much maligned founder and figurehead of the data leaking super site that's caught the attention of everyone from government officials and public figures to businessmen and bankers, who made an appearance despite whatever legal scandal he's involved with this month.

Even Charles Barkley, everyone's favorite NBA rebounder-turned-golfer-turned-tv-analyst, gets in on the money-related fun with his own ad for Barclay's, er, make it Barkley's Bank that ran on an episode of Saturday night live.

As Sir Charles explains, giving him your money might not be such a "turrible" idea.

There's nothing wrong with a little humor when it's injected into advertising and not something so critical as a data breach or a laughable change of policy that affects millions of accountholders. But I simply can't recall ever watching a truly funny American bank ad.

If you know any, please let us know in the comments.