Uncommon Creative Studio and specialist insurer, Hiscox, have been running the most disastrous campaigns ever in OOH, print and radio since September 2023. Now they’re taking those muck-ups to TV.  The campaign dramatises the risks that businesses face by showing things going spectacularly wrong in awkward, embarrassing, and humorous ways to underline the kinds of claims Hiscox business insurance is built to cover.

Instead of airy promises, the campaign flips the script to show the awkward (and expensive) realities of running a small business and triggering resistance to risk. In the TV series, Uncommon turns one perfect commercial into a series that go wrong – they ‘accidentally’ glitch, run upside down, run with the audio in a foreign language, display at the wrong size and air with no picture at all.

The Most Disastrous Campaign Ever has helped Hiscox achieve significant gains in brand health and search volumes, contributing to record sales for the insurer, all while helping position Hiscox as a brand that truly understands the realities of running a small business.

Mediaplus UK anchored the campaign in the UK’s biggest shared viewing moments – Premier League run-in fixtures, new ITV drama and Gogglebox at launch – before it moves into the largest World Cup ever broadcast on ITV across June and July, reaching over 22 million adults. The TVCs are supported in streaming across BVOD, SVOD and YouTube.

Lucy Jameson, co-founder at Uncommon, noted, “Insurance brands usually deal in vague positive claims – ‘at your side’ and the like – pretending life is all sunny uplands. But anyone who has run a small business knows the reality is very, very different. There are a million things that could go wrong every day and worrying about them keeps you up at night. A good insurer understands those risks and helps protect you against them.

“So rather than making polished ads about perfect lives, we made the ads themselves fall apart, building on the success of The Most Disastrous Campaign ever. Reminding people that when everything goes wrong Hiscox is here to help protect you. It’s disruptive and memorable – and talks to exactly what makes Hiscox different. They understand the people behind the policies. They get the reality not the fantasy.”

Where The Most Disastrous Campaigns Ever began: