Have you ever seen any of the State Farm “Discount Double Check” ads on TV? The one that might come to mind is the original one with the Green Bay quarterback seeing his signature move being used along with the discount double check. He gets hazed a bit from some customers who don’t believe he’s a real quarterback in this one. There have been subsequent commercials as well, with other Green Bay players, as well as him in a school. Pretty good commercials, I think!
Then, I came across a commercial where the discount double check is mentioned again, but this time it’s in the context of two women shopping at some trendy clothing/accessories store. A far cry from a pro quarterback, right? Well, in this one, the women run over to a few attractive purses that they spotted by a window, clearly impressed by the bags. One of the ladies says the usual “like a good neighbor…” line. Lo and behold, POOF! – out of the blue and agent show up.
She then asks the agent how much her discount double check saved her, and the guy tells her $150. Her next move – to immediately and enthusiastically say “Done!”, while prancing over to the cashier to presumably buy the purse. The message that some my get from this – save money on one expense, and then you’ll have more to spend on something fun!
Now, I’m all for having fun and getting things we want. However, in this case the clear connection I made was that money saved was now available for a splurge. I’m not linking to it here, but you can easily find it on YouTube to see what I mean.
It reminds me of how some popular songs seem to glorify spending. There was the song involving Katy Perry mentioning maxing out credit cards, and another artist bringing up music and money in the context of not paying rent. Not exactly sending messages about the merits of frugality and personal finance!
I’d like to see a revised commercial, where the woman holding the purse drops it upon hearing about the $150 savings. Then, maybe she could exclaim things along the lines of:
- “Oooh…Emergency Fund!”
- “Cha-ching! More for retirement!”
- “Paying down that remaining debt, baby!”
You know, some excitement over having extra money – and how great it is to use it for personal finance goals!
I suppose that’s advertising that might not be such a hit with the masses. But it would be a winner with me 🙂
My Questions for You
Have you seen this ad – or did you search for it to check it out? What are your thoughts?
What do you think of the notion of celebrating saving and financial responsibility, instead of materialism?
What would you think about doing with $150 you just found out you saved on another purchase?
Sadly the world we live in everyone is trying to get their satisfaction fix and buying materialistic goods is more satisfying for most than saving and taking control of their finances! I would love to celebrate financial responsibility but it will just never happen. If i saved $150 then it would go straight into my investment portfolio!
Celebrating saving instead of consumption should be part of sorely needed personal finance education in the US. But that would be bad for business, now wouldn’t it! The foremost feature of American culture may be consumption–going to be tough to turn that steaming aircraft carrier!
The first step is OK: it’s better to get a discounted price, if possible. The problem is, as you noted, that none of these ads go further to encourage people to save money or use the savings for something good. On the other hand though, how would they sell all kinds of useless junk, if we were more careful with our spending? 😀
Ugh, I hate that commercial so much. I hate the mentality that every time you save money on one thing, it gives you an excuse to spend it on something else.
Gen Y – I know what you mean about the notion of using savings in one area to spend more on materialistic purchases elsewhere.
I love how this blog was phrased. Yes, I have seen this commercial and how observant for you to notice the hidden message. I also enjoy how you have a positive way to fix the problem. For your next question, I am unsure at the moment how I would spend $150. Though, my guess would be that I would be spending it on food. ( well, food is a natural need for the body, right? ) :p