The 10 most memorable insurance ads ever

May 22, 2014 at 08:37 AM
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How many insurance company slogans can you recall right now? "Nationwide is on your side," "Are you in good hands?" or "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" — you know them by heart from their many TV ads. That is the raw power of advertisers and marketing: Add a great can't-get-out-of-my-head jingle, a funny, shocking or touching story, and you're hooked.

Here at LifeHealthPro, our editorial team brings you the most memorable life and health insurance, investment and financial planning commercials. Feel free to add to our list and tell us which ones you liked or we left out.

State Farm: What is life insurance?

"Life insurance?" (Shrugs) "What is that?" two kids ask. "It makes you indestructible like a super hero," replies another kid and a little girl explains that "it's so you come back to life, I think." They are adorable, but are they right? In a way, except you won't be turning into Superman anytime soon (sorry). But have no fear, State Farm is here! They will help you figure out what life insurance means to you and "put back the 'life' in life insurance."

 

 

Prudential: Ribbons Experiment

Prudential is doing something very interesting here: They are trying to get the community to participate in their ads and start asking important questions like "How much money do you think you'll need to retire?" Calling it the "people-powered experiment," Prudential picked real people for this ad. Their answers for retirement vary and you can see them in the yellow ribbons. Some people replied that the money they would need would only get them as far as 70 years old, when the retirement age can vary from 65 to 67. Are you shocked yet?

 

United HealthCare: Health in numbers

This TV commercial helps the viewer understand that they can get to know their insurance policy because UHC makes it easy to compare rates and doctors. It's as easy as finding the right house painting company.

 

 

Northwestern Mutual: NCAA Partner

Though not entirely memorable because of the music or theme of the ad, Northwestern Mutual made it to our list with their NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Partner ad that played (a lot) during March Madness. In fact, the company made it to the top 5 leading ad categories during the 2013 NCAA's March Madness. Planning, teamwork and communication help a team, or an insurance agency, achieve success.

 

 

Humana: Grandma is way cool!

Children never cease to amuse: the way they see the world, the way they talk, the things they do, the ice cream they love … it's no wonder that they are frequently featured in TV ads for their cute factor. "Grandma just makes me happy," exclaims a little girl in this ad, and our hearts melt. Keeping the grandparents healthy and helping bring up the next generation in a loving environment is what health insurance is all about; more time to enjoy the grandchildren and be a kid again with them!

 

 

Aflac: Fore! Days

The Aflac Duck has made us laugh since 1999, but this time it's his frustration with golf that brings it home. He enjoys the water traps more than the usual golfer and demonstrates that his skills for the game are lacking, but what he does know how to do, he does very well. "He stinks at golf, but he was great at getting my claim paid fast… mine got paid in four days." Get it?

 

 

MetLife: The Peanuts gang, SuperBowl 2014

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, they're all here, ready for the SuperBowl! While Schroeder plays the National Anthem in a simple piano melody, you see the whole gang come down from the stands at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and meet in the field, to honor the anthem and the flag. Very simple; very moving. Game on.

 

 

Kaiser Permanente: Thrive campaign  

When a kid says "in my younger days, I made lots of mistakes", you expect to see him as a tiny baby. But Kaiser is making a tongue-in-cheek commentary here, converting what are usually adult bad habits to what the kid bad habits would be. Poor kid neglected his relationship with his dog, but the drinking (of soda) was the worst.  

IEUTER & SECOR Insurance Agents: Your friends in the insurance business

You know when you watch something so bad, it's actually great? Formerly known as IEUTER & SECOR, the IEUTER Insurance Group is a Michigan based insurance agency and it brings us this local TV ad, circa 2012. The ad was so bad, it even made it to Conan O'Brien's Local News Round-Up TV segment (you can see that here). But you know what they say: "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

 

AVIVA USA: Paper humans

What is now the company Athene, AVIVA USA put out these TV ads in 2012 as part of their wellness campaign. The creative idea behind it is that you're more than a policy on paper, you are a human. Thus, they're "bringing humanity back to life insurance." And their "Wellness for Life Program" sounded pretty great, too.

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