Nationwide: Controversial Super Bowl Ad Meant to ‘Start a Conversation’
February 3, 2015 by Michael Buck, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Michael.Buck@ambest.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Although a Super Bowl spot aired by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. that intended to highlight child safety whipped up negative feedback from consumers online, the insurer hopes it started a conversation that will help save lives, according to a statement.
The commercial, which was styled on YouTube as “Make Safe Happen,” features a young boy recounting things he’ll never get to do, like learn to ride a bike or get married, because he died in a childhood accident.
“Nationwide ran an ad during the Super Bowl that started a fierce conversation,” the company said in a statement. “The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance.”
It has drawn a firestorm of attention online at least. As of the afternoon of Feb. 2, the ad was viewed 1.7 million times on YouTube after less than 24 hours on the site. By comparison, the insurer’s other Super Bowl spot, which featured actress Mindy Kaling, was viewed about 362,000 times on YouTube in about the same time.
Many comments on YouTube chastised the insurer for showing “such a depressing commercial,” as one commenter said. There were others that took from the spot a message of “minimizing risks,” as another commenter wrote. Amobee Brand Intelligence, a digital marketing technology company that monitored social media during the Super Bowl, found Nationwide’s Make Safe Happen ad generated more than 238,000 mentions, of which 64% were negative.
The ad was in connection with an initiative the insurer launched in late January to raise awareness of children injured or killed in household accidents and provide tools to parents to help prevent those accidents. Included in the campaign is a partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide, a child safety organization.
“This is a difficult issue to talk about,” said Matt Jauchius, Nationwide’s chief marketing officer, in a Jan. 23 statement announcing the initiative. “Kids getting injured and dying from preventable accidents is hard to imagine, and that’s why Nationwide is creating awareness to make safe happen everywhere.”
Joe Case, an associate vice president of corporate communications for Nationwide, told Best’s News Service the feedback the company is hearing from consumers is becoming increasingly positive as time passes from the initial airing. He said the ad’s goal was to grab attention and probably caught people off guard.
“We knew there was going to be strong reactions both ways,” Case said. “We were intentionally very careful about the tone of the ad.”
Nationwide, in a statement, noted “thousands” of people visited a website set up for the initiative. Case said the company was not seeing the initially negative commentary have an impact on business.
Karen Post, a branding expert and author of Brand Turnaround, said getting attention is ultimately what the advertiser wants and popularity is not always required for effective messaging. Creators of the spot certainly thought at length about their message and strategy, she said. The move was a smart one because it helped the company to break through the other chatter, she said.
“A softer approach would have diluted what they were trying to do,” Post said.
Brand expert Liz Goodgold said while Nationwide’s intentions were good with the spot, the execution missed and the insurer “fumbled” with the ad. The time and environment in which the ad was received probably played into the negative feedback, she said. “Nobody goes to a Super Bowl party for a buzzkill,” Goodgold said.
Nationwide Group companies currently have a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior).
