Hiscox Insurance Disastrously Infringes the Copyright of Iconic British Ads

Specialist insurer Hiscox has unveiled one of its most disastrous campaigns to date, by using the copyright of three iconic UK brands: Specsavers, Weetabix, and Cillit Bang.

This marks the next iteration of the insurer’s 'Most Disastrous Campaign Ever', which uses media space to boldly illustrate the very mistakes it insures.

This follows campaigns including radio adverts recorded in the wrong language, posters riddled with typos and a blank Metro cover-wrap due to a seemingly missed supply deadline.

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.

Through its messaging, Hiscox has humorously repurposed the three iconic 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 said, “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 said, “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 said, “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 said, “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. Last month, Campaign and Radiocentre announced that ‘Bad Knockoff’ won the prize for ‘Audio Ad of the Year’.

This new campaign marks the next step in a two-year long partnership between specialist insurer Hiscox and creative studio Uncommon, expanding on the success of ‘The Most Disastrous Campaign Ever’, first released in 2023. This iteration of Hiscox’s ‘Most Disastrous Campaign Ever will be live in the UK for the next month and beyond.