BofA marketing expenses grew 12 percent last year

Bank of America spent 12 percent more on marketing in 2011 than it had the year before, with expenses reaching $2.2 billion, according to the bank's 300-page year-end report filed Thursday afternoon.

That compares with $1.96 billion in 2010 and $1.93 billion the year before that.

The bank is the country's 17th-biggest ad spender, according to Ad Age. Last month, Bank of America put its ad account under review in a bid to rethink its marketing strategy, according to The New York Times and a number of other media outlets.

Bank of America's image took one of the biggest hits in corporate America in 2011, particularly after it announced and then retracted a plan to charge $5 for debit card use.

In its latest major re-marketing effort, the bank unveiled in 2007 an ad campaign revolving around the slogan "Bank of Opportunity."

In October 2011, the bank launched a series of TV ads promoting its local philanthropy, Reuters reported.