This commercial for Aviva is pretty funny in a number of
ways. I like the paper people stuff, like they used last year, where they’re
saying that most insurance companies see you as a policy, but they see you as a
person, blah blah. This imagery works really well. And in theory, I’d say
they’re probably patting themselves on the back about it here. But there are some
issues I have with it as used in this spot. And the problem here is twofold.
Firstly, all the hospital staff in the ad are paper people
as well as the patient (not to mention the patient’s family: although the
family can be argued to work at least; but the hospital staff too? No way!). So
this makes no sense, since the whole idea is that most insurance companies look
at their clients as just a policy. So does this mean all the hospital employees
fall into the same category? What if they have Aviva? That would negate the
claim of the ad! (Right?) Maybe the hospital workers all have to take the
insurance offered by the hospital these days, with HMOs, but wow: even their
own employees are just a policy to these
insurance companies? Oh, the paper humanity! And does everyone else in the
whole world fall into the paper people category for not having Aviva? What if
they don’t even have life insurance: surely they should be normal people, right? (But even their own
client{s} is paper to start with until the medical exam, so do they only care
about you after your medical
exam?) I mean, I understand that they’re saying that all other insurance
companies view everyone else as just a policy, but this ad is really about this
one patient, so this making everyone into a paper person kind of muddles things, I think.
Or did the visual effects company take this idea too far?
(For the purposes of this ad, only this patient and maybe his family should be paper people, and the hospital
staff should be real human beings, otherwise the ad’s message becomes confusing
and sinks, as it leaves too many unanswered questions out in plain sight. I
have said it before and I’ll say it again: What is the message you’re trying to
send with this ad? {In this case, it’s aimed at the guy who is having the
medical checkup, and he’s our identification figure, and the message is that
you’ll get a discount on your life insurance premium if you get a medical
checkup, like this guy is doing here. And also, Aviva cares about its clients.}
Pinpoint that message, and don’t let any elements in your spot distract from
it! This making everyone into paper people is confusing and it might make us wonder
who this message is actually aimed at. After all, the doctor is a normal human being: does she have Aviva life insurance too? See what I mean here? Or are they really
trying to say we’re all just pawns in a huge insurance conglomerate’s designs/schemes?
That’s what it looks like they’re secretly saying here, doesn’t it? {And if that was the secret message: kudos, guys! Seriously: I feel like that so often these days!})
Secondly, the paper policy guy is left forever in the
patient exam room, and he’s so bored he starts playing with the medical kit. So
he’s basically giving himself the medical exam (with the reflex hammer, etc.)
before the doctor arrives. And then she just talks to him, so I guess he did do the exam himself (!!). Oh, but he’s still paper
then, so maybe paper people have to do their own medical stuff themselves?
(Does this mean they have to operate on themselves if they need surgery? Well,
I guess it’s just a paper cut, so there would be no blood, but those things
{paper cuts, that is} hurt!) And more to the point: does Aviva think of us as a
policy whenever we need to have anything done, but as real people only when
we’re paying into their coffers? Because that’s what this scenario says to me (because the guy is only real after the medical exam, which he has to do himself: get it?).
But seriously: this ad makes it look like we have to do our
own medical tests and stuff ourselves: so why go to the hospital? This is just
ridiculous! And worse, it’s very unnecessarily confusing and risible! And
that’s distracting from the message, which is something you never want to do in an ad! (And when ads are so short
anyway, there’s really not much excuse to have so much silly and questionable
stuff going on that takes us off-message. {I mean, it’s funny, but mostly it’s
funny in that this part got approved to be in the ad! Do the Aviva people sleep
through these presentations? Or is this guy giving himself a medical exam
supposed to distract from my next point below?})
And thirdly (yes, sorry, there’s something else too, I’m
afraid), the whole point of this ad is for Aviva to say that their
policyholders get a discount if they get medical checkups. Well, I’m sure
that’s very nice and friendly-like of them, but could there possibly be another
reason for them wanting their life insurance
policyholders to get medical checkups? (I mean other than because they care
about you?) Oh, that’s right: if the medical checkup shows some new,
potentially life-threatening medical condition, maybe they could drop that
policy and save themselves some big payout! Now, I’m not suggesting that
insurance companies only care about money, or would terminate a policy if it
looked like they might have to pay benefits on it: that would be very cynical!
But it is possible that some company might want to give its policyholders an
“incentive” to do some early “screening” that might save the insurance company
some money down the line. Although I’m sure Aviva would never do that, since
they don’t see you as a policy, but rather, they see you as a person! (And
that’s why they want you to get checkups: they see you as a real person, not a
paper person; and that’s worse for them, because paper people never get sick:
because they’re made out of paper. But you might! So get that checkup, just to be sure you’re healthy enough to
keep paying those premiums for a long time!)
Here’s the checkup conundrum commercial:
