Sam Harris

Does this TV ad seem on the odd side to yous? I don’t mean just the “grace of God” comment, but the whole monologue by Mrs. Preston.

Your kid could die horribly, let us help…..... That was really tacky.

Life insurance is a sensitive subject because it forces one to deal with one’s mortality.  I thought the ad had the right message but poor execution, because I got the feeling that the widow is cool with her husband’s death because thanks to the insurance pay out she’s set.  Sure, that’s how life insurance works, but there’s a better example in saying, “What will happen to you and the kids if your primary source of income is cut off?”

The ad is unusual in that most life insurance ads are from the pre-expiration perspective in preparation for death. This is from the post-expiration perspective of what happened after death. Also, it is unambiguously directed to the Christian market (see longer 7 min version). They should have depicted the deceased looking down from heaven.

Thanks for mentioning that version, man.

Here’s the link to the extended hot mix dance version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgeCEomFcY4&feature=PlayList&p=9E39632D4D19CA59&index=4

I just find the whole straightforward angle unusually ... real, I guess, compared to what we normally see aimed at such a mass market, and it seems they could have used some portion of her emotionally demonstrative segment in the shorter one—its absence is striking to me.

So ... yeah. Sad story, unusually honest(?) ad.