I love the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and I’m a fan of Alex Morgan, so I like this ad for Nationwide Insurance that features her. But apart from a teensy tiny text at the beginning claiming her as a Nationwide member, what does Alex Morgan have to do with insurance?
The answer is not much. And while fans of hers may enjoy the ad, they will likely not remember that it was for Nationwide, and if that’s true, then the ad is a big waste of time and money. If they want to make an ad featuring Alex Morgan, that’s great, but it ought to make us remember what it’s for. So how about this as a suggestion:
Alex Morgan is playing soccer with other national team members in a park when she unleashes a monster kick that’s deflected and bounces off the post and smashes through the windshield of a car parked nearby. Then the announcer says that everyone, even big stars, need insurance, because you never know what’s going to happen. Then we see Alex Morgan playing again, but this time from above, and the picture zooms out until we see the whole country, and she kicks a ball across the country from California to New York, and we see the ball come up to the camera and continue to New York, and then we see the Nationwide name and logo.
There, that gives Alex Morgan fans more of her, but in a scenario that makes us think of insurance, and with a tag that literalizes the name: “Nationwide”. People would remember that.
I think what they’re trying to do with this ad is say people are banding together to support the US team, and Alex Morgan is banding her hair together with some hair band; but again, what does this have to do with insurance? Not much.
What might be fun, though, for a company like Aflac, would be to show Alex Morgan getting injured in a game, and then the duck subs in for her, showing us how Aflac helps us when we’re hurt on the job.
Here’s the Alex Ad:
