Life InsuranceSep 17 2021

Protection industry calls for rethink of 1950s-style ‘sexist’ ads

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Protection industry calls for rethink of 1950s-style ‘sexist’ ads
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

Kevin Carr, chief executive of Protection Review and former co-chairman of the Income Protection Task Force, told FTAdviser he has spoken “to a number of people” about protection advertising this year, and encountered a lot of frustration.

He was responding to a couple of recent life insurance adverts depicting stereotypes of men and women. 

Candid, a life insurance lead generation firm, through its brand for mums ‘Polly’, had shared a post on Twitter accusing women of spending all their “hard-earned cash” on clothes, underwear and make-up.

It also shared a male-equivalent advert through its dad-focused brand ‘Tom’, which accused men of spending all their money on pizza, beer and gambling.

The firm had already run into hot water with the ASA last month, after one of its life insurance adverts about death aired in the middle of children's cartoon scheduling.

Carr said everyone, from the insurers and introducers to the buyers, should consider their involvement when it comes to dealing with sexist or misplaced adverts. 

“Under Advertising Standards Agency rules, the buyer of the lead is accountable as well as the lead generator, so any adviser or brokers buying protection leads should take care and look at more than just the cost,” he said.

Candid’s managing director and founder, Matthew Edwards, told FTAdviser the two adverts sparking accusations of “sexism” had been its “best-performing ads for the last three months”.

He added 75 per cent of Candid’s marketing department was female, and that the adverts in question had been designed by women.

Kathryn Knowles, managing director at Cura Financial Services, said: “We are in the modern century and it feels like this is from the 1950s, when we saw adverts for men buying vacuum cleaners for the little lady in their life.

“I find it sexist. Yes, I buy clothes and eyeliner. But the advert certainly feels like they are saying women are frivolous with money and don't know what they are doing.”

Knowles believes more daring ads are often designed to engage younger buyers, and while engaging with younger generations is essential to ensure their financial wellbeing, Knowles said relying on stereotypes was “offensive”.

Stephanie Hydon, head of strategic partnerships at life insurance software provider iPipeline, said adding to inappropriate adverts were those that failed to reflect the diversity of people in this country.

She told FTAdviser: “When looking at images that we use in our industry, we still often portray the stereotypical white nuclear family, yet this is not a reflection of our society."

In an era of “unprecedented access to data”, Hydon thinks it’s high-time the insurance industry “get better” at using it to truly provide personalised messages that are inclusive and representative of society today.

“If we want to grow the protection market, we have to get better at using data to understand who we are, and just as importantly aren't, serving, understanding individuals triggers, challenge the language and tone we use, and finally do away with stereotypical imagery.”

Candid was not the only firm to succumb to questionable advertising in the insurance sector. 

Life Cover Comparisons told FTAdviser it had to re-design an advert targeting nurses, after people complained the outfits were “inappropriate”.

Back in 2019, the ASA published guidance which said “advertisers should avoid using sexualised imagery if this is irrelevant to the product”.

A spokesperson for Life Cover Comparisons told FTAdviser: “People read too much into an advert.

“Life insurance is all about picture-painting. You can look at any image and say it’s sexualised.”

ruby.hinchliffe@ft.com