The hashtag #BankShame keeps popping up around the Queen City.

Charlotte Metro Credit Union is using the hashtag to appeal to millennials and people who are frustrated with the bank they use.

“We want to show there are better options for people out there,” says Rachel Garnham, CMCU’s Director of Marketing.

I sat down with Garnham and Nicol Matthews, Chief Operating Officer of CMCU, on Thursday to talk about the “Ban The #BankShame” billboards around Charlotte right now and to learn more about the strategy behind the advertisements.

Garnham told me CMCU’s marketing team sat down with Charlotte-based LEC Media to brainstorm advertising ideas in November. The goal was to figure out a way to persuade frustrated customers to leave their bank to go to a credit union.

“We can be that other option for them,” Garnham says. “Have that personal experience and not hitting you with fees every month for the smallest things.”

They settled on the phrase “Ban The #BankShame” — inspired by the dog shaming memes scattered across the Internet. Dog owners write phrases on signs such as “0 days since I ate the cat litter,” or “I steal socks and I eat them,” and then take a photo of their dog beside the sign.

Going off of those viral memes, CMCU’s TV component of the campaign features millennials holding up signs that read, “I like paying high monthly bank fees. It gives me one more thing to complain about.” Or, “I believe my bank puts me first … And unicorns. I also believe in unicorns.”

The campaign launched during Super Bowl 50 with CMCU’s first TV ad. The next week, billboards went up around the city.

Garnham told me the new ads are aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds. Ads will run on TV, Pandora, iHeartRadio, online and on billboards throughout Charlotte as well as in Gaston County, York County and Cabarrus County. Matthews says the campaign will continue throughout 2016 with new components being added later on.

CMCU is a community credit union that started in Mecklenburg County. Last September, the credit union expanded its community charter border to include seven counties in North Carolina and three in South Carolina. This campaign is the nonprofit’s latest attempt to spread the word that anyone “living, working or worshiping” in its geographic footprint can become a member.

CMCU had about 46,500 members in Charlotte at the beginning of the year. Membership grew by 8.1% in 2015.

In a cover story I wrote last month, other credit union executives told me about their efforts to attract millennials. Credit unions in the area have recently boosted their branding and marketing efforts to appeal to the younger generation. Large advertising campaigns are a novel concept to credit unions, which have historically been tied to a specific business or industry.

John Radebaugh, president and CEO of the Carolinas Credit Union League, told me then that educating millennials about what credit unions offer will be key to attracting their business moving forward.

“Even fewer millennials know what credit unions are,” Radebaugh said. “They like the local feel. Credit unions are perfect for them, but they don’t really understand what they are.”