The bull is roaring back.

Even before Bank of America launched its fall ad campaign aimed at reviving the Merrill Lynch brand, the bank and its iconic bull logo were staging a comeback in the eyes of consumers, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex, which tracks the perception of more than 1,000 brands.

According to BrandIndex, Merrill Lynch hit bottom around March 2009, with a ‘buzz” score of -34. (A BrandIndex score is can range from 100 to -100 and is calculated by substracting negative feedback from positive.)

Since then, however, Merrill Lynch has been steadly rising and — with a current score of around – 7 — is almost in positive territory again. By the end of November, Merrill Lynch had surpassed the average score for the investment banking sector.

Other banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citi — but not Bank of America — have also seen some improvement in their scores over the last year. Which means the White House is calling for new limits on Wall Street at a time when negative sentiment appears to be subsiding.