Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and checking out Ad Age’s Media Buzz, when I came across this Asa Hiken piece headlined “Celebrity Crypto Endorsements Under Fire in New SEC Campaign.”

Except I couldn’t actually read the piece because I haven’t forked over a bunch of money for an Ad Age subscription.

So help me out, Doc. What the SEC is going on here?

– Cryptonaught

Dear Cryptonaught,

Apparently tired of its public image as Elon Musk’s favorite chew toy, the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to do some biting of its own. Here’s part of an SEC press release last week.

SEC Launches Game Show-Themed Public Service Campaign

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy today unveiled a game show-themed public service campaign to help investors make informed investment decisions and avoid fraud. Recognizing that sometimes investing may look and feel like a game, the campaign titled “Investomania” reminds investors to do their due diligence when making investment decisions.

Here’s the spot pantsing the meme stock set.

The SEC campaign has elicited very different responses from different parts of the Investosphere. There is, for example, Eugene Grygo’s take at Financial Technologies Forum: “Ad Campaign Exposes SEC’s Sense of Humor.”

“We continue to look for creative and memorable ways to reach and educate investors, and we hope this year’s public service campaign, with its lighthearted approach, will attract the attention of all kinds of investors,” says Lori Schock, director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, in a prepared statement.

The meme stock crowd, however, had a different statement to make, according to Pam Martens and Russ Martens at Wall Street Parade.

Redditors Are Furious at the SEC’s New Ad Campaign Portraying Them as Idiot Investors

Redditors at the subreddit Superstonk are posting obscenities directed at Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), over the new ad campaign from the SEC that appears to target young Reddit investors as fools that do no research before investing, lose all their money, and deserve a whipped-cream pie in the face.

The blowback elsewhere – from Bitcoin bros to Robinhoodniks – has been fierce.

The Doc’s diagnosis: Investments are no laughing matter, whether made in a bedroom or a boardroom. Maybe the SEC should put a little less mania in its media.