A drunk wanders into a bar and yells, " I think all insurance guys are crooks".
A man quickly rushes up to the drunk and shouts "You take that back."…..
The drunk replies, "Why ....are you an insurance agent?",
The man, in a rage, hollers back, "No, I'm a crook".
One ad that really did amuse me and would find irresistible to see again and again is this one, this real delightful and lovely Metlife ad … in the heat and sweat, the dust and din of the IPL season and the influx of ads into channels, on every category from atta to underwear and from mobiles to 3D TV’s this one for me, stood out… no great announcements, no bombastic discoveries and no VAS or ATTRIBUTES standing in line to catch your attention..
Just a simple and plain fact of life that “who knows when will this regular income game come to an end ?” ("life mein regular income ka khel kab khatam ho jaye- kaun jane?”) said in just the colour and tone that happens in every family… the dad, the mom ,the parents, the naughty, brainy , blackmailing and finally disappointed kid.. I loved this ad for its simplicity for sure and for keeping the KISS rule alive and kicking but more for its lack of creative pretensions that make most ads of today either look like art films ( made for metals) or like worn out, also made creatives that come out of exhausted and underpaid ad agency labour camps…
Ever since they had (guess its was in 2001-02) this "have you met life today?" ads, MetLife as a brand has used a combination of hope, humour and humanity to talk about its variety of offerings for financial needs of ordinary people which are often complex (including life insurance, long-term care, banking and annuities) and hence often avoided…. The beauty is that through their approach they made it look simple but the needs were put forward to us as so inevitable to be left unattended…
Some time back to make sure that their voice is heard above competition Metlife took the same campaign outdoors….a mascot by the name 'Calendar Man', who did hold a cheque, signifying a guaranteed monthly income to the investors and meeting people from billboards and bus shelters in Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh made a good impact… The campaign was devised by McCann Erickson (the longtime agency for Metlife) and executed by Platinum Outdoor,
Now this ad has come in regional versions (dubbed ones) too and thankfully they too look and sound good and the song is retained, at least in the Malayalam version I saw.. would love to see the Tamil version...
Using premises like "create your own pension plan" and "guaranteed income for life," these ads stands and sticks exclusively with the economic apprehensions of baby boomers - individuals between 35-55 years old - who may be troubled about outlasting their nest egg….. Since I fall in the category may be, I loved the ad, it stayed in my mind for long and even after all the TV watching, it started pricking the spend thrift in me who lives for today, so much so that for the first time in 36 years I thought of some savings and I told my wife that ‘we need to start some saving’ … ‘who knows when will this regular income thing come to an end..?’
I haven’t bought the product yet but have made the first step, have asked an executive to meet me.. I guess if I am a sample, this ads are working… and that’s what they make ads for..
Three cheers to the Suhasini Mulay (the actor who portrayed Dadi) ,team Metlife and McCann-Erickson Delhi for the work…!!!
Tail piece :- "The insurance guys keeps us poor all our lives so we can die rich"
