Nationwide issues non-apology for using child death as ad

[mominatrix]

That was all kinds of fucked up.

And I'm with asdfjkl ...it's as much about saving their $$ as it is about a "conversation"

[MrsAxilla]

Feb 2, 2015 13:04:26 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:56:31 GMT -5 emilyj said:

I've been on the phone all morning getting quotes from other insurance companies.  If anyone wants to recommend theirs for home and auto...

I have All State.

We have Allstate, too.  

[cinnamoncox]

Feb 2, 2015 13:00:04 GMT -5 Kristinmo said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:37:39 GMT -5 cinnamoncox said:

I'm clueless about this stuff, but does anyone know how ad time works? Like, is nationwide the only ones who would have seen it before it aired, or does someone else, another entity, approve ad spots in advance? I feel like someone would've seen this besides nationwide and said wait, what's this shit. But I know nothing about advertising and who determines who gets on the Super Bowl commercial spots. I know they are wicked $$$$, so I also don't believe this was a PSA. no way no how.

I believe NBC reviews from an FCC violation perspective not from a "this is a really bad idea for an ad" perspective

Ok thanks. I just can't imagine thinking this was going to go over well.

[pixy0stix]

Feb 2, 2015 12:56:31 GMT -5 emilyj said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:05:07 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

If I had Nationwide I would cancel it.

I've been on the phone all morning getting quotes from other insurance companies.  If anyone wants to recommend theirs for home and auto...

State Farm.

They're kind of dicks, but I've had them forever and never have had a claim not fulfilled (eventually).

[pixy0stix]

asdfjkl - I took what you wrote and tweaked it a bit for my own use. I hope you don't mind.

[wawa]

Feb 2, 2015 13:14:16 GMT -5 @pennypie said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:36:28 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

No.  Here is what they are doing and it's the fucking grossest fucking only an insurance company would do it kind of thing in the entire gotdamned world.

How do insurance companies make money?  They sell insurance.  How do they make MORE money?  They sell insurance that a claim is never made on.  So, let's say you have fire, auto, or home owners insurance through Nationwide.  You pay your premiums for years and years and years and then a neighbor downs in your pool and makes a liability claim on your policy.  Suddenly, selling you that policy wasn't such a good investment.  

However, if they can get you to both buy the policy, ny making you feel unsafe without it, while educating you on ways to avoid accidents that would result in a claim on the policy, err, i mean, educate you on how to keep your kids safe, suddenly they're selling insurance with fewer claims made in it which means increased profit.

It's the kind of brilliance you'd expect from an insurance company.  Unfortunately for them, the ad is terrible.  

Not trying to defend the commercial in this case AT ALL. But I'm kind of wondering about this element of it. My question is, so is any type of work an insurance company does to promote safety inherently suspect because it could benefit their bottom-line? State Farm and Allstate, I think, both have teen driver safety campaigns/programs. I just googled and saw Geico has some safety education program.

Nationwide also funds a large children's hospital, so I get their alignment with the particular issue...again, not defending this particular approach or their non-apology.

I think the fact that increasing safety awareness is inherently a good thing doesn't change the fact that it also benefits the bottom line for this companies.  Because you have to wonder, why the hell would you be so hellbent on this PSA that you'd shell out the money for a damn SUPERBOWL ad for it?  And the answer is, at least in part, because in the long run it benefits their bottom line for people to be safer and whether they upset the FUCK out of people who have already suffered a tragedy along the way is just...irrelevant.

I  mean, maybe the high ups at nationwide are actually wonderful people who truly care about the nation's children and are just tone deaf as fuck and the fact that this also benefits them monetarily is a fringe benefit.  That is possible.  So their choices are stupid or evil.  I guess they're going with stupid in terms of spin.

[erbear]

I'm pretty sure that parents (both those who have lost children or not) know full well that accident prevention could help in a lot, but not all, cases. No "awareness" is needed, and no amount of insurance will change a child's death. Fuck you, Nationwide.

[downtoearth]

Feb 2, 2015 11:47:14 GMT -5 Lucy Honeychurch said:

Where were guns in their fucked-up little PSA?

I bet every life insurance/home insurance policy comes with a rider that you have to insure gun accidents separately, so maybe financially, they don't pay out for those anyway, so they didn't want to insinuate they did in the commercial. [cynical I am]

[Alyssa]

Feb 2, 2015 12:05:01 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

My heart dropped when I saw that commercial. All I could think of was the people I know who have lost a child, and what a gut-punch it must have been to be blindsided by that in the middle of the Superbowl.

I know a mother who lost her son after his dresser fell on him last year, this was her reaction.

"It is bold and shocking, and just what we needed to hear... and while it hurt to watch, it didn't come close to the pain that I experience everyday. If this saves one life, it's worth it."

[wawa]

Feb 2, 2015 13:23:36 GMT -5 erbear said:

I'm pretty sure that parents (both those who have lost children or not) know full well that accident prevention could help in a lot, but not all, cases. No "awareness" is needed, and no amount of insurance will change a child's death. Fuck you, Nationwide.

I don't know if I buy that.  I mean...this commercial is awful.  Full stop. 
But PSA and safety campaigns in general aren't unnecessary.  I'm not sure if that's what you meant to say.  If I wasn't on the lady internets nonstop there is all kinds of shit I wouldn't necessarily know.  Carseat safety.  Choking hazards.  Falling furniture.  Etc...

[pixy0stix]

Feb 2, 2015 13:32:28 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:05:01 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

My heart dropped when I saw that commercial. All I could think of was the people I know who have lost a child, and what a gut-punch it must have been to be blindsided by that in the middle of the Superbowl.

I know a mother who lost her son after his dresser fell on him last year, this was her reaction.

"It is bold and shocking, and just what we needed to hear... and while it hurt to watch, it didn't come close to the pain that I experience everyday. If this saves one life, it's worth it."

The Compassionate Friend's FB page is full of varying degrees of reactions to the commercial (from "I hope it saves one child" to "OMFG how crass #mychildisnotyourcommercial" (I can't remember the actual hashtag they're using). It'll be interesting to see if they come out with a statement.

[downtoearth]

Feb 2, 2015 13:35:49 GMT -5 wawa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:23:36 GMT -5 erbear said:

I'm pretty sure that parents (both those who have lost children or not) know full well that accident prevention could help in a lot, but not all, cases. No "awareness" is needed, and no amount of insurance will change a child's death. Fuck you, Nationwide.

I don't know if I buy that.  I mean...this commercial is awful.  Full stop. 
But PSA and safety campaigns in general aren't unnecessary.  I'm not sure if that's what you meant to say.  If I wasn't on the lady internets nonstop there is all kinds of shit I wouldn't necessarily know.  Carseat safety.  Choking hazards.  Falling furniture.  Etc...

I agree with Wawa - I think it was their delivery. I mean insurance companies see are party to all sorts of terrible home accidents all the time, they probably know more than anyone that accidents are terrible life changers, but their delivery in that commercial was not just a PSA that we're rolling out a website to help you learn safety facts and help prevent accidents, it was a gut-wrenching, sad commercial from the perspective of a dead kid. It sure did get us talking though - I bet the ad agency is calling is a success.

[Alyssa]

Feb 2, 2015 13:23:36 GMT -5 erbear said:

I'm pretty sure that parents (both those who have lost children or not) know full well that accident prevention could help in a lot, but not all, cases. No "awareness" is needed, and no amount of insurance will change a child's death. Fuck you, Nationwide.

Not everyone realizes that they should strap heavy furniture to the wall.  It's commonly overlooked when people baby proof their house. You would be surprised by how many tip-over accidents there are.  I've been to people's homes where heavy TV sets are sitting on a wobbly stand.  We've stay at a vacation rental in the past where there was no straps securing the TV to the wall. 

This is one example.



We were at my friend's house, this is their son's room, he's 5.  That child playing beneath the TV  on the floor is my son who is 2.   I walked in to check on my son and was shocked with what I saw and decided to take a picture. The TV set was not strapped to the wall.  I went over to it and the whole TV wobbled to the touch, it could have easily fell over if a child bumped into it or climbed up on the side.  I took this picture because it's a great example of just how unsafe heavy furniture can be.

[redheadbaker]

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

[Vespasia]

Feb 2, 2015 13:41:25 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Incidentally, anyone know how their stock is doing today?

It looks like they're a privately held company.

[redheadbaker]

I have Progressive for car insurance. They've been good for auto claims. They won't cover me for renters insurance because I have a pit bull, though.

[Alyssa]

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

[Deleted]

If they wanted to raise awareness, great. I can believe a company would devote some money to good works.

As a soon to be parent and a graduate of a strategic communications program, whatever this was was a complete fail.

I didn't get info about how to prevent accidents. I wasn't sure if there was some sort of insurance they were trying to sell?

Couldn't this have been an affective ad by showing clearly the website and showing children saved by safety procedures--an anchored bookcase leaning a little bit, etc.

Shock is a way to make your point, but it was confusing as to what the point was.

[epphd]

Feb 2, 2015 13:57:26 GMT -5 Lucy Honeychurch said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:41:25 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

It's not "suspect" for an insurance.company to reward or encourage safety. It's suspect for them to air a dead child ad in the middle of the super bowl purely for shock value and then turn around and pretend the reason they were doing it is because they care about our kids and want to keep them safe. The analogy to the safe driver thing would be discounts on home owners policies for implementing safety features. Or advertising their website full of tips for keeping your family safe by, you know, mentioning hazards around the home and ways to avoid them. "I'm dead" is not a line that should be delivered by a child during a commercial. It's also suspect because.they're pretending it's a PSA, when it's purpose is profit driven... I mean, they essentially took the "I'm Mayhem" commercials which are sorta funny, but are flipped it to be grossly disturbing.

Incidentally, anyone know how their stock is doing today?

Down 0.19%

I thought it was privately held?

[mominatrix]

Another angle for this conversation...


Nationwide actually ran another Superbowl ad, the one with Mindy Kalig. They were done by two different ad agencies, though:

iThe heartrending commercial was especially jarring in contrast with the other ad that Nationwide ran during the second quarter, an upbeat number featuring Mindy Kaling and Matt Damon. The #InvisibleMindy ad was from creative agency McKinney, while the other was done by Ogilvy & Mather through a partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio. When AdWeek called up Ogilvy to get more info on the “Make Safe Happen” ad two days ago, the agency reportedly deferred comment to Nationwide, where a representative had this to say: “We do have a few surprises for Super Bowl viewers.” From what we know now, that was probably the understatement of the game.

www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/02/01/super_bowl_xlix_ads_nationwide_nissan_run_grim_serious_commercials.html




tweet them @ogilvy


(particularly after tweets like this:

Ogilvy & Mather @ogilvy · 18h 18 hours ago
Proud of our @nationwide #client for raising awareness of such an important issue. #MakeSafeHappen #SB49

[badgergrl]

Feb 2, 2015 12:56:31 GMT -5 emilyj said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:05:07 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

If I had Nationwide I would cancel it.

I've been on the phone all morning getting quotes from other insurance companies.  If anyone wants to recommend theirs for home and auto...

We Love Amica. Great customer service. Really really helpful when my husband was rear ended. Also I believe they operate more like a credit union so we get dividend checks when they do well profit wise. I feel like it's less mega profit corporate focused than the others and highly recommend them if they are in your state.

[erbear]

Feb 2, 2015 13:35:49 GMT -5 wawa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:23:36 GMT -5 erbear said:

I'm pretty sure that parents (both those who have lost children or not) know full well that accident prevention could help in a lot, but not all, cases. No "awareness" is needed, and no amount of insurance will change a child's death. Fuck you, Nationwide.

I don't know if I buy that.  I mean...this commercial is awful.  Full stop. 
But PSA and safety campaigns in general aren't unnecessary.  I'm not sure if that's what you meant to say.  If I wasn't on the lady internets nonstop there is all kinds of shit I wouldn't necessarily know.  Carseat safety.  Choking hazards.  Falling furniture.  Etc...

No no. I get that. Of course that is needed - but this commercial did not actually educate anyone (I don't think)- it just showed the negative of what could happen if you didn't do it.

[MixedBerryJam]

I have to say when I first saw this post I was kind of head scratchy, because I didn't know what the big deal was. I had seen what turned out be only part of the ad, and it alone would have been a pretty effective ad, I think. I went online to see what the hubbub here was about and realized that I had missed the entire first part of the ad with the little boy, and only saw from the overflowing bathtub scene to the end. I thought that was really effective, and now that I've seen the whole thing, that first part is almost ... gratuitous?

[pixy0stix]

Feb 2, 2015 14:04:29 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

I'm stomping my feet over what I saw?

Go fuck yourself. Bitch.

[KB]

Feb 2, 2015 13:14:16 GMT -5 @pennypie said:

Feb 2, 2015 12:36:28 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

No.  Here is what they are doing and it's the fucking grossest fucking only an insurance company would do it kind of thing in the entire gotdamned world.

How do insurance companies make money?  They sell insurance.  How do they make MORE money?  They sell insurance that a claim is never made on.  So, let's say you have fire, auto, or home owners insurance through Nationwide.  You pay your premiums for years and years and years and then a neighbor downs in your pool and makes a liability claim on your policy.  Suddenly, selling you that policy wasn't such a good investment.  

However, if they can get you to both buy the policy, ny making you feel unsafe without it, while educating you on ways to avoid accidents that would result in a claim on the policy, err, i mean, educate you on how to keep your kids safe, suddenly they're selling insurance with fewer claims made in it which means increased profit.

It's the kind of brilliance you'd expect from an insurance company.  Unfortunately for them, the ad is terrible.  

Not trying to defend the commercial in this case AT ALL. But I'm kind of wondering about this element of it. My question is, so is any type of work an insurance company does to promote safety inherently suspect because it could benefit their bottom-line? State Farm and Allstate, I think, both have teen driver safety campaigns/programs. I just googled and saw Geico has some safety education program.

Nationwide also funds a large children's hospital, so I get their alignment with the particular issue...again, not defending this particular approach or their non-apology.

Its the same as Aetna or Blue Cross supporting wellness programs. It's in their best interest to keep you healthy. It going to cost them a lot less money to cover you, but you're still going to pay for coverage. 

[darnkatz]

Feb 2, 2015 14:04:29 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

Dude, what the fuck? Many people are pissed off because they have lost children of their own and are grieving and will never STOP grieving, and this kind of shit is traumatic and unnecessary. If these shitheads wanted to do a public service announcement, they should have done it with tact.

[Velar Fricative]

Feb 2, 2015 14:04:29 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

I am not surprised you're spewing this bullshit here given that I and many others have not forgotten what you have posted on this board before. Go away already.

ETA: I see others have put you in your place already.

[emilyj]

Feb 2, 2015 14:04:29 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

I agree that safety campaigns and awareness is good. I learned about securing furniture to the wall due to a safety campaign.

This commercial, however, was NOT the way to go about doing it.

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

No.  Just no.  There is no "But bad PR is good PR" argument here.

Take a step back and look HOW people are talking.  The majority of people are mad.  Upset.  People like me called to cancel our claims with Nationwide today because of this ad.  This is NOT an effective means to a) get people talking and b) deliver an educational campaign.

Your comment about allowing people to be mad and stop their feet over what they saw is just tactless and gross.  

[dottyblue]

So this ad was actually for makesafehappen.com? Nationwide fucked up by having their own logo front and center, which does make it seem like they are promoting their life insurance policies. But the website for "Make Safe Happen" (which still has their logo all over and is kind of irritating) actually has good resources and tips for protecting children and no link, that I can find, to purchasing Nationwide's insurance policies.

I don't even know where I'm going with this. I'm still trying to sift through my anger at Nationwide and sadness over the ad.

That said, I am PISSED that the nomore.org commercial isn't getting any attention because this one was so messed up. I thought it was poignant and well done, even if it is NFL's own org.

[NewOrleans]

Feb 2, 2015 14:04:29 GMT -5 Alyssa said:

Feb 2, 2015 13:54:12 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

It got people talking. 

I hope someone out there who is pissed off about this commercial will also take a moment and think about some of the hazards that are in their own home.   They can be mad and stomp their feet over what they saw but I would hope they will think to themselves and wonder, "wow did we strap the changing able to the wall?".

Get. Out.
Do not for a motherfucking second think I do not recall your purposeful cruelty of yore.  
Get the fuck out with this foot-stomping foolishness.