Second, late chiming in, but I tweeted them a good 20 times and never a response. They only address those that are pro-commercial. I'm not saying an apology would change how I feel about them, but it would make me believe that for a millisecond they might actually understand how offensive they have been and the fact that there are grief ridden parents who were subjected to that commercial without warning that may still be suffering the emotional fallout from it today. And tomorrow. And forever, you know.
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?".
Girl, come ON. Is your empathy meter completely fucked?
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
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?".
What? No. The ad was grossly insensitive, and so are you (for the second time now).
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?".
"This prick is asking for someone here to bring him to task Somebody give me some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him I'll pull the trigger on it, someone load the gun and cock it While we were all watching, he got Washington in his pocket."
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.
That was the first thing I thought.
We don't forget shit quickly, Alyssa. There are a lot of us who think you shouldn't have come back. Well, I don't want to speak for anyone else. Personally, *I* thought you shouldn't have come back. It's clear you learned nothing, anyway.
ETA: Clearly I'm not the cheese standing alone here, Alyssa.
ETA2: Before I was married, I had Amica insurance. I LOVED it. My parents had it, so I just continued. Never had an issue and loved the check I got every year.
"Not gonna lie; I kind of keep expecting you to post one day that you threw down on someone who clearly had no idea that today was NOT THEIR DAY." ~dontcallmeshirley
I've been trying to put my thoughts about the commercial into words, and have been having a hard time figuring out how to convey what I want to say without risking getting in trouble from a professional standpoint (because this is not a safe place and all that, and the uncensored version of what I want to say could almost certainly get me in trouble). I guess the best way I'm comfortable putting it here is that while starting the conversation about preventable childhood accidents is always a good one, Nationwide completely and totally went about it the wrong way. The vast majority of comments I've seen have been from people that are rightfully pissed about the commercial, not saying that they're going to run out and make the household changes that I understand are described on the Make Safe Happen website. I just hope they have the sense to pull the ad.
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]
Not true at all.
I really don't think that Nationwide had any financial goal as some have mentioned here (i.e. insure young kids who will never have a claim...). I think they were trying to make it a good PR move (i.e. we care!!!!) but they completely fell flat on their face in a very very bad way. I agree with the PSA but I don't think the SB was the appropriate venue and it was too much.
We have USAA for insurance, I've also heard good things about Amica.
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]
Not true at all.
I really don't think that Nationwide had any financial goal as some have mentioned here (i.e. insure young kids who will never have a claim...). I think they were trying to make it a good PR move (i.e. we care!!!!) but they completely fell flat on their face in a very very bad way. I agree with the PSA but I don't think the SB was the appropriate venue.
Sorry, you seem to not understand the way For-Profit companies work. This ad wasn't a PR campaign to fix their image. This ad is the cause for a PR campaign to attempt to fix their image now.
And FUCK YOU if you think this "PSA" was in any way shape of form "good".
Post by redheadbaker on Feb 2, 2015 21:00:05 GMT -5
Even if you think the message ("make safe happen") is good, how can ANYONE defend the way they went about it??? They terrified children! They caused real pain to parents who have lost children! I am beyond mind-boggled that anyone thinks that was okay!
I didn't feel they owed us an apology for it, but that was an awful ad.
Now that I think of it, has there ever been such a thing as a GOOD insurance ad? Seems like they'd tend to be ghoulish by nature.
I mentioned the amazing Salt-N-Pepa Geico commercial already. Then there's Dean Winters as Mayhem for Allstate (I think?).
Like everyone else, I liked the Salt-N-Pepa ads, but didn't even know they were for Geico, or what they were selling.
I often find that to be the case for ads aired during the SuperBowl as well. Great ads, but I couldn't tell you 10 minutes later what they were trying to sell me.
"I agree with the PSA but I don't think the SB was the appropriate venue."
Please tell me, what do you think the appropriate venue is to use guilt tripping parents about accidental deaths of children as an advertising gimmick?
I didn't feel they owed us an apology for it, but that was an awful ad.
Now that I think of it, has there ever been such a thing as a GOOD insurance ad? Seems like they'd tend to be ghoulish by nature.
Farmer's has a similar campaign, but actually helpful. The "did you know?" Snippets where they have 2-3 things per commercial and a whole series of them. Like "did you know, slowing down can help save you money on gas.," or "did you know, having a fence around your pool can help reduce insurance costs."
The second example isn't fear mongering: it's cheaper to have a fence/alarm around the pool from an insurance perspective because it's safer. That someone could die or be hurt without it is something that does not need to be said.
I think that campaign is effective because 1) it does not ask you to go to a separate website to get facts and tips and 2) they are things that I know people have fact checked in their own because the commercial piques their curiosity.
I have liberty mutual, and the claims are handled well, although I think they are cheaper in the northeast than the rest of the country. I used to have AAA, which was good, but they wouldn't insure our house at all until it was rewired, so we had to switch in order to, you know, get a mortgage.
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...
True. I discussed this ad with a friend who doesn't have children today and she was like, "But a TV falling can't kill a kid can it?" And I was like, Well actually....
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?
Yes I agree. If it had started with the halfway point of quiet scenes, it would have been shocking but important if they had added a call to action like go here to learn about safety action plans for the house. But the little kid lamenting all the stuff he'll never get to do and then saying...dum dum dummmmm he's DEAD. It was like 2 commercials in 1 and totally, completely unnecessary.
I didn't feel they owed us an apology for it, but that was an awful ad.
Now that I think of it, has there ever been such a thing as a GOOD insurance ad? Seems like they'd tend to be ghoulish by nature.
Farmer's has a similar campaign, but actually helpful. The "did you know?" Snippets where they have 2-3 things per commercial and a whole series of them. Like "did you know, slowing down can help save you money on gas.," or "did you know, having a fence around your pool can help reduce insurance costs."
The second example isn't fear mongering: it's cheaper to have a fence/alarm around the pool from an insurance perspective because it's safer. That someone could die or be hurt without it is something that does not need to be said.
I think that campaign is effective because 1) it does not ask you to go to a separate website to get facts and tips and 2) they are things that I know people have fact checked in their own because the commercial piques their curiosity.
Oh, I like those! "We.are.farmers..bum dah dum dum bum bum bum"