You’ve seen the ads, maybe TiVo’d one or two. “Now my legs’re stickin’ to the vinyl and my posse’s getting laughed at,” all because of Bad Credit. F-R-E-E does spell free, except it’s credit reporting monster Experian trolling for consumers to take the bait and sign up for monthly hits for something that’s – well – free here, just not there.

Online sign-ups are up 20%, a pretty remarkable stat for the likeable ads from Martin Agency as part of a $70M campaign (up 200 percent since 2002) to drive new biz. Viral? Ya’ think? This thing’s crawling all over YouTube, which we think is a little weird considering the core message. Read more details about the campaign and why it’s taking flak here on the New York Times site.