insurance

Company Endears Itself to You With Vandalism

Hamilton Nolan · 02/02/09 05:20PM

Motorists find ads annoying when they are placed on billboards, hundreds of feet away. "Better" idea: why not make them think that your ad is actually vandalism to their car? Yea!

The Least Subtle Ad Ever

Hamilton Nolan · 10/03/08 12:06PM

"We all know insurance is dull," announces this ad for Trident, which is apparently an actual insurance company in the UK that sells legitimate insurance, and not just some viral front company. To offset said dullness, Trident's new commercial is nothing but 85 seconds of bikini-clad models bouncing up and down on pogo sticks, filmed from the most porny angles possible. Also, a few slogans are thrown in! Honestly, it's left me too dazed to really be able to sort out whether it's despicable or...brave? It's certainly not clever, per se. Perhaps one more ad with male pogo models would head off the impending backlash. Watch it below and consider its sociosexual implications:

If Matthew Winkler Loses, Somebody Obviously Cheated

Hamilton Nolan · 07/09/08 01:34PM

Bloomberg News has failed to win an award, and that is obvious proof of fraud! So goes the logic of Bloomberg boss Matthew Winkler, the bow-tied tyrant and enemy of humans. Bloomberg ran an epic investigative piece on the insurance industry that generated both acclaim and a lot of pushback. The industry said the piece was full of errors; an investigation found no errors; the Deadline Club of New York eventually named the story as a finalist for several awards, but it didn't win any. Right that second, Matthew Winkler's bow tie perked up. He knows a setup when he sees it!:

Asian People: Interchangeable

Hamilton Nolan · 05/27/08 11:59AM

State Farm ran this painfully ordinary ad recently showing a happy Asian couple holding a baby, posed in front of their typical suburban home, voicing thoughts about saving money on insurance. Perfectly tedious. But Multicult Classics finds another version of the ad—same house, same car, same happy family pose—featuring a different (Filipino?) couple. They're also thinking about insurance! People have always said that all Asians look alike, but really; not even a different stroller? Below, both of the ads:

Facebook Outrage: Insurance Company Demands A Peek At Kids' Profiles

Pareene · 02/01/08 04:29PM

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey denied benefits to two minors because they have eating disorders. Eating disorders, the insurance company claims, are emotional, not biological. It gets more fun: Horizon has demanded access to the kids MySpace and Facebook accounds, to "shed light on the causes of the disorders, which determines the insurer's responsibility for payment." So think twice before you make your Facebook status something lame and emo: it could be used as evidence that you're uninsurable. If you can even afford it! [Law.com]