In September last year, Uncommon Creative Studio, reimagined what insurance advertising can do for specialist insurer, Hiscox. The OOH campaign, Most Disastrous Campaign Ever, was made up of advertising blunders that illustrate the very mistakes it insures – billboards that were mis-sized, incorrectly installed and seemingly duplicated. Mud was splattered across one poster site to highlight a client mess up, while seemingly exposed wires dramatised electrical hazards. In campaign extensions, radio adverts were recorded in the wrong language and a blank Metro cover-wrap was published due to a seemingly missed supply deadline. The brilliantly entertaining, very witty campaign’s message is that when its clients make errors, the insurer is there to help.

The campaign was apparently successful. Its fourth iteration has just been released. This time, Hiscox has infringed the copyright of three of the UK’s most famous brands, Specsavers, Weetabix, and Cillit Bang. Hiscox’s “infringement” takes liberties with each brand’s distinctive assets including brand colours and iconic taglines. What, at first glance, appears to be a trio of Specsavers, Weetabix and Cillit Bang posters, quickly reveal themselves to be playful business insurance adverts raising awareness of the legal risks of copyright infringement.

In these adverts, Hiscox has humorously repurposed the three legendary brand lines…

• “You should’ve gone to Specsavers” becomes “You should’ve gone to Hiscox”
• “Have you had your Weetabix?” becomes “Have you had your Hiscox?”
• “BANG! And the dirt is gone” becomes “BANG! And Hiscox could help protect you.”

The campaign also includes a set of out-of-home sites produced by Posterscope including ‘real’ folds, which obscure the infringed brands’ identities and reveal the Hiscox logo as the brand behind the campaign.

Nils Leonard, co-founder at Uncommon, stated, “At a time when lots of people are playing with their own logos, we thought we’d play with everyone else’s. Long running ideas with such a clear and disruptive format are rare to find, and a mark of this campaigns’ power is a moment when even other brands are happy to play a role. Disaster as a creative idea for Hiscox may have started in a B2B world but it’s now disrupting pop culture in unignorable ways, we are grateful and proud of our partnership with the brilliant team at Hiscox and the excellent brand partners that agreed to play a part.”

Fiona Mayo, chief marketing officer, Hiscox UK, added, “While this ad is playful in nature, the risk of accidentally infringing copyright is a very real one that many of our customers face as they go about their business. We’re grateful to Specsavers, Weetabix and Cillit Bang for their help in bringing this danger to life in such a striking way.

“Copyright infringement is a particularly thorny area for our customers in marketing, media and creative industries, where assets that might feature in their work for clients like music or photography, are often protected. But it doesn’t stop there; from software codes and databases to sculptures and architecture, the risk of infringing copyright exists in most sectors and this campaign is just one way of illustrating this.”

Victoria Clarke, marketing services director, Specsavers, commented, “The essence of this Hiscox campaign aligns so well with our ‘should’ve gone to Specsavers’ moments so it was an opportunity we simply didn’t want to miss. We’re delighted to help bring this campaign to life alongside some iconic British household brands.”

Hannah Skardon, marketing director essential home at Reckitt, added, “When Hiscox shared their idea with us, we realised it was a fantastic opportunity to use our distinctive brand slogan “BANG! And the dirt is gone” to bring a smile to the nation and help share an important message about the risk of copyright infringement.”

These adverts follow on from last year’s Bad Knockoff, a radio ad Hiscox released that infringes the copyright of a famous ‘00s hit song, that won Campaign and Radiocentre’s Audio Ad of the Year.

This iteration of Hiscox’s Most Disastrous Campaign Ever will be live in the UK for the next month and beyond.

Credit:
Creative Studio: Uncommon
Client: Hiscox
Chief Marketing Officer: Fiona Mayo
Head of Brand Marketing: Ed Birth
Campaign Brand Manager: Tom Froggett
Media Agency: Total Media
Business Director: Hannah Moody
Senior Broadcast Account Director: Michael Hannan
OOH Media Specialists: Posterscope
Client Directors: Emma Monk & Jodie Hall

Here’s where the campaign began: