AIB has suspended its new multi-million euro brand advertising for the foreseeable future. The advertising campaign was initiated in October last year and the ads - which cost €1.9 million (£1.5 million) to make - were shot in Ireland and India over a three-week period.

The slick 60-second TV campaign comes with the tagline "Your life. Anything is possible" - perhaps not the best corporate message for a bank whose rogue trader seems to have stretched the possibilities to the full.

Brand advertising is the first to be pulled in times of corporate crises. Aer Lingus has had a major €1.27 million brand campaign on hold for over a year now and there are still no plans to air it in the short term.

That campaign was ready for broadcast at the start of 2001 but a series of well-publicised difficulties in the airline delayed it for nine months. It got its first outing on September 10th and was pulled indefinitely the following day. Its single airing did earn it a place in a the prestigious European advertising competition Epica where it picked up a major award for Irish International, the agency behind the campaign.

While AIB's brand campaign is on hold, the bank will continue to advertise its products. February and March are key advertising months for financial institutions. It's a busy time for mortgage applications and car loans and this year there is increased marketing activity among the financial institutions as they aggressively compete for the new government savings account business which closes at the end of April.

Another casualty of the bank's current difficulties was the launch of the Schoolmate project which is part of AIB's "Better Ireland" awards. A series of concerts to promote the awards featuring Victoria Beckham was cancelled at the eleventh hour last week and the production team employed by independent film company Frontier Films to document the project was laid off. According to the bank, the community-based project which will distribute €1.27 million to childrens' groups annually for the next three years is on hold and will begin in September.

According to AIB, its other marketing activities which range from the €6.5 million sponsorship of the GAA Club Championship to local golf events will continue as usual. It is anticipated that the brand campaign, which was planned for a two-year run, will broadcast again once the bank's present difficulties have been resolved.