Shut Up, State Farm
One of the joys of having a moderately popular blog is getting random email from people you’ve never met. Such as my new pal “Jon.” Jon likes to post comments on various entries that link back to a sales pitch for an insurance company under the guise that he too has opinions about humor and branding. I just wanted to take a moment this morning to let Jon know that I would be glad to promote State Farm if they will pay me to do so, as they are paying him. He even says so. Otherwise, State Farm, go away. You’re not my neighbor, you’re an insurance company. You’re not my “fan,” you just want my readers’ money. And a word to all my fellow marketers out there: Form letters are form letters, even if you throw in a reference to a particular post. Enjoy this fail-mail from State Farm:
From: Jon <-email address removed->
Subject: Humor and the auto industryMessage Body:
Hey I came across Pinky Gonzales the other day when I was searching for that Swagger Wagon video. Which, I might add, is absolutely hilarious. I also really enjoyed the article about whether or not Apple is doomed. I’m starting to appreciate how some industries, specifically the automobile industry, are incorporating humor into the marketing aspect. In a similar vein - State Farm has just launched their newest website: -website address removed-, with comedian -removed- bringing his flavor and spice to the table. If you and your readers are anything like me, you will have a hard time not hitting the “-removed-” button all day long.To get a good idea, here’s one of the tag lines they are using in the campaign: “State Farm wants you to know that their agents will always have your back. Maybe not in a real life bar fight kind of way against a 400lb biker named Scooter, but still. For a list of reasons why SF agents have you covered, head to -website address removed- ”
Take a look and let me know if you want to pass it along and need more information!
Thanks,
JonFYI – I am helping State Farm spread the word on their site.
… ya don’t say.
6 Comments
Leave a Reply
Subscribe
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
He is SO cool for posting on your blog! I’m thinking of switching to Geico.
there goes the neighborhood
Haha! There goes the neighborhood. Classic.
Like a good spammer, state farm is there…
great comments! love it.
It is very difficult for an established mainstream brand to be “hip” …State Farm, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Dell, Marriott, Microsoft, Merck …doesn’t really matter. Apple and Starbucks are two examples of big and hip; but it is very rare and difficult to pull off. You have to excel in “lifestyle branding.”
When i ran MountainZone.com and we had sometimes over a million viewers a day, we chose hipper lifestyle brands such as North Face, Burton and Whistler as advertisers over bigger brands that would have paid more. We felt the “brand” of our advertisers reflected on our own brand. So we turned down a lot of advertisers.
that being said, i’m wrapping a tour bus for indie artists right now …and i think an advertiser such as State Farm or Geico would fit just fine on a bus. As long as other hip brands such as Fat Tire, Gibson, Red Bull and Urban Outfitters were also on the bus.
skip
Could not agree more, Skip. There’s a time and a place for all brands.
A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty, compared this letter to the time he caught his son smoking pot in the garage. He smelled it one morning while getting into his car. He was actually more mad about the fact that his son would think his dad was dumb enough not to know what was going on than that he’d burned one down.
In all seriousness, if State Farm (or the marketing company representing them) just asked me to feature their current promotions and the strategies behind them, I would GLADLY have done so. They’re all over the place. But fake form letters designed to trick me into writing a feature is not just bad business, it’s insulting.
And on a final note, I was honored to see that a “senior executive from State Farm” had viewed my LinkedIn.com profile after this post.
Golly, I love the Internets.