We study how bank advertising practices can affect racial disparities in financial markets. We implement a difference-in-differences methodology exploiting a regulatory change that increased incentives to raise deposits at the Freedman's Savings Bank, the first bank collecting deposits from African Americans post-Emancipation. We document an acute rise in advertising volumes relative to other banks post-deregulation, associated with increased deposit collection. A textual analysis uncovers that the rise in advertising volumes embeds a pronounced increase in persuasive messaging, using racially targeted prescriptions and false claims. The depositor losses resulting from the bank's collapse have rarely been matched in American banking history.