New ads of club for Hartford elite take aim at stuffy image

(AP) — The Hartford Club, a social hub for the Connecticut city's upper crust that counts Mark Twain among past members, is launching its first modern advertising campaign to as it tries to overcome damage from the recession and a stuffy public image.

With its Georgian Revival architecture and elaborate chandeliers, the club in downtown Hartford harkens back to a time when Connecticut's capital and its insurance companies had a bigger part in American cultural and financial life.

The campaign, including ads on several Connecticut television stations, casts the club as a place for young professionals to socialize and network with one another.