P-p-p-pick up an RBS phone app?

Branded advertising creeps into many aspects of daily life, but the Northern Rockhoppers, Gentoos and the rest have been largely immune until now - and this ad from RBS takes the biscuit.

The penguins, whose agent must be asleep, were unknowingly conscripted into a promotion designed to tell customers they can “freeze” rather than simply de-activate a lost credit card.

What, if you are a penguin, does that have to do with the price of fish?

The bank’s Mastercard credit card customers can use a lock/unlock feature on the award-winning RBS mobile app which instantly freezes the card.

The main benefit to freezing a card is the ability to reactivate it if found later.

Often customers who mislay a card are pretty sure where they have left it - but cancel it anyway just to be on the safe side. The app allows customers to prevent anyone else from using it until it is back in their possession, and avoids the need to wait for a new card to arrive in the post.

Kelly Devine, Head of Card Issuing at Mastercard said: “That moment when you realise your card is missing is worrying, even if you know that it hasn’t been stolen.

“We wanted to help customers address those security fears and give more convenience, so we are helping Royal Bank deliver functionality that will resonate with customers.”

But not with penguins - who probably want their enclosure returned to normal as soon as possible.