When Insurance Ads Stopped Making Sense and Got Brilliant Instead
There’s a Southern Hemisphere arms race going on, and no one’s talking about it. NZ and Aussie insurance companies are quietly throwing their ad dollars into increasingly absurd, cinematic campaigns. And weirdly, it’s working.
State Insurance went full Wes Anderson with a surreal holiday song. Youi, across the ditch, is pushing origin stories like Marvel prototypes. Tower brought puppets. AA Insurance practically has its own drama series. These aren't just insurance ads anymore. They're character-driven, multi-platform operas about mildly relatable people who make perplexing decisions before being gently rescued by a well-integrated call to action.
Here’s the thing. No one wants to think about insurance. It’s necessary but dull, like checking your smoke alarms or calling your parents. By veering hard into storyland, these campaigns are sneakily winning attention in a category that once begged you to read fine print and awkwardly film a product manager beside a whiteboard.
We’re not talking about short-term gimmicks. Some of these storylines have multi-year arcs, recurring characters, and yes, emotional payoffs. And because they’re so stylised, they hold up in rewatch. Insurance is boring. But now, somehow, it’s also kind of must-see TV. I didn’t see that coming. Then again, neither did the guy who left a candle unattended and whose house now has whimsical animated eyebrows.
State Insurance went full Wes Anderson with a surreal holiday song. Youi, across the ditch, is pushing origin stories like Marvel prototypes. Tower brought puppets. AA Insurance practically has its own drama series. These aren't just insurance ads anymore. They're character-driven, multi-platform operas about mildly relatable people who make perplexing decisions before being gently rescued by a well-integrated call to action.
Here’s the thing. No one wants to think about insurance. It’s necessary but dull, like checking your smoke alarms or calling your parents. By veering hard into storyland, these campaigns are sneakily winning attention in a category that once begged you to read fine print and awkwardly film a product manager beside a whiteboard.
We’re not talking about short-term gimmicks. Some of these storylines have multi-year arcs, recurring characters, and yes, emotional payoffs. And because they’re so stylised, they hold up in rewatch. Insurance is boring. But now, somehow, it’s also kind of must-see TV. I didn’t see that coming. Then again, neither did the guy who left a candle unattended and whose house now has whimsical animated eyebrows.