Great story albeit not terribly surprising…

NRMA Insurance wins ad stoush against AAMI

The advertising watchdog has upheld a complaint NRMA Insurance has made against AAMI’s “It’s unlucky if you’re with NRMA” ads.

The Advertising Claims Board, part of the Advertising Standards Bureau and which resolves disputes between competitors, ruled that the AAMI ads contravened the Australian Association of National Advertising Code of Ethics because they were:

• Misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive; and
• Contain a misrepresentation which is likely to cause damage to the business or goodwill of a competitor.

The outdoor ads, which had been adapted to different Sydney suburbs carried copy such as: “AAMI just lowered car insurance prices in the Eastern Suburbs. Switch now and you could save.”

The ACB has now asked AAMI to discontinue the ad campaign.

In November last year, Mumbrella contacted NRMA to enquire if it was aware of the ads and if it planned to take any action against its rival.

The spokesman said: “NRMA Insurance is aware of AAMI’s ‘It’s unlucky if you’re with NRMA’ advertisements and we believe our many customers who enjoy better value with us than with AAMI will dispute this.”

No complaints had been submitted to the ASB at the time.

On the ruling, Sue Hawkins, NRMA Insurance spokeswoman, said: “We encourage healthy competition but expect people to play by the rules.”

The Advertising Claims Board provides alternative dispute resolution to resolve challenges to advertising to avoid expensive and time-consuming court actions.

AAMI was not available for comment at the time this story was posted.