Metropolitan National Bank has this slogan: Nearby & Neighborly. A representative of the company, with whom I participated in the year-long Leadership Benton County, Wyley Elliott, President Benton County, had moved to the burgeoning corner of the state just days before the class began. During the August-to-May 2005-2006 timeframe of the class, he had overseen the construction and opening of (I think it was) 11 branches in the two-county area. That’s nothing remarkable for the Northwest Arkansas region. Banks seem to pop up nearly on top of each other.

Another member of the class, Nohemi Lopez, received a promotion to assistant vice president and branch manager at one location in Bentonville last fall.

My gripe is their use of the slogan, Nearby & Neighborly, in their television advertisements.

“Nearby to where you live, work and play.”

How professional can a banking institution be when it fails to use correct grammar? Would it be disastrous to say, instead, “Near where you live and work”? This would have communicated the same information, and even without the final -by, would still have connected the viewer/hearer to the slogan.

The ad’s phrasing is awkward and stilted, and it’s a huge turnoff. A company that wants me to entrust my dollars to its keeping should be able to use the English language properly.

I have friends who have chosen a bank purely based on its logo design. My husband and I have nearly switched banks because our bank was taken over by one with a bad look.

How is this different? It’s still the outward image the corporation is presenting, asking the public to judge them upon.

My vote: good design and good language skills.