‘Don’t show this during World Cup’: Policybazaar slammed for its ‘negative’ ad; here’s what happened

What can spoil the experience of watching Virat Kohli hitting a century or say Mohammed Shami’s unparalleled haul? For most, it turns out, it is an ad. And especially if it is an ad revolving around some crisis. A X, formerly Twitter, user’s video has now gone viral for his take on a term life insurance ad that popped up in-between the recent matches and bringing down the celebratory mood of the audience.

In the viral video, the user is seen saying that he saw a terrible ad during the match. It is unclear which match he is specifically talking about. The ad he referred to was a Policybazaar ad, where a widowed woman laments that her dead husband passed away without buying a term life insurance. Now this is where it gets a little complicated. The ad has been criticised for multiple reasons on social media. It must be added here that this is not a new ad campaign. 

Firstly, by the sports fans. For many, including the creator of the video, an ad like this kills the vibe, especially during a match that seems to be going our way. “Woh bol rahi hai tumne financial planning nahin kiya tha…bhai uske marne ka bhi plan nahin tha yaar (She is saying you did not do any financial planning…but he also did not have any plans to die),” said the guy in the video, urging Policybazaar to make better ads. 

“And this ad is coming in the middle of the match. Virat Kohli is hitting a century, Bumrah is picking his fifth wicket, I am celebrating and then this ad comes in between, ruining the mood,” he said, asking Hotstar also to do better. “World Cup is round the corner. There are 50 matches in the World Cup, and every match has a scope of 100 ads, which is 5,000 ads in total. You might show this ad at least 1,000 times but I urge you not to. If you must, please show some Thums Up or Pepsi ads, not this,” he said. 

Many other fans chimed in too. Some said that they feel the same about this Policybazaar ad, while some urged the company to take down the ad “full of negativity”.

Then comes the second group of critics who called it a “pathetic attempt to sell a product”. Many pointed out that the ad tries to exploit the insecurities of the customers. Some even pointed out that the death of the man seems to be a non-issue compared to the term life insurance. 

Now, when such sensitive topics are at hand, can the gender-war be far behind? The ad has also managed to rile up many social media users who pointed out that from the ad, it appears that the financial burden lies solely with the man, so much so that he is being cursed even after his death. On the other hand, many have questioned why the woman seems so helpless, and why she did not buy the term life insurance herself, pointing towards its regressiveness. 

Recently, a report by the Advertising Standards Council of India revealed that gaming, classical education, healthcare, and personal care ads had the highest number of problematic content and violated advertising regulations. In FY23, the regulatory body received a total of 8,951 complaints regarding potential violations of advertising rules. 

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