Billy Mays, former pitch man for dozens of different ‘As seen on TV’ products including OxyClean, passed away June 28, 2009. Obviously a tragic event for his family and friends, but not my point.
Mays pitched multiple products at once through 30-second paid ads with his ‘Buy it now, and I’ll double the offer, for free!’ trademark pricing technique.
As of last night, iCan Health Insurance, an affordable health insurance / benefits company is still running his ads on TV. Seriously?!
His face is prime real estate on their web page as well.
I know, I know. The irony is too much to take in. A celebrity pitch man using his powers from the after life to sell health insurance.
Is this a clever strategy to get irrelevant bloggers like myself to give them some online, grassroots coverage? That’s the only explanation for not pulling their ads after Mays passed away.
Or…
Could it be that their advertising teams, or agency, didn’t clue in to their media buy and realize these spots were playing in market?
This isn’t necessarily a brand impacting, negative ‘I’m not going to give this company the time of day’ issue, but it does make a potential consumer think about the type of service iCan would deliver.
If a company is either too dumb to realize its ads are playing, or morally inept enough to use a deceased spokesperson less than a month after his death, I’m not sure I want to associate with that brand.
Mays pitched multiple products at once through 30-second paid ads with his ‘Buy it now, and I’ll double the offer, for free!’ trademark pricing technique.
As of last night, iCan Health Insurance, an affordable health insurance / benefits company is still running his ads on TV. Seriously?!
His face is prime real estate on their web page as well.
I know, I know. The irony is too much to take in. A celebrity pitch man using his powers from the after life to sell health insurance.
Is this a clever strategy to get irrelevant bloggers like myself to give them some online, grassroots coverage? That’s the only explanation for not pulling their ads after Mays passed away.
Or…
Could it be that their advertising teams, or agency, didn’t clue in to their media buy and realize these spots were playing in market?
This isn’t necessarily a brand impacting, negative ‘I’m not going to give this company the time of day’ issue, but it does make a potential consumer think about the type of service iCan would deliver.
If a company is either too dumb to realize its ads are playing, or morally inept enough to use a deceased spokesperson less than a month after his death, I’m not sure I want to associate with that brand.
Particularly in an emergency, assuaging the harmed party is generally basic. Numerous a period, online networking and promoting organizations without the learning of emergency correspondence systems act without thoughtfulness and may just focus on completing their activity and not see the gravity of the issue.
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