Hello All,
I thought some may be interested in the reply I just got from Allianz about that TV ad. I wrote to them with an edit and some more ideas about the ad than what
I sent out earlier. They don’t ask me not to send out the reply. The choice of birds was deliberate but without a direct answer to the issue of whether the choice was related to the issue of the withdrawal of financial support for Adani’s mine in the area
of the range of the finch. I got neither a confirmation or a denial of that, but I suspect I am right. I will let you know if I get an interesting answer from Gruen. Their _expression_ of
some creative license to aid in the development of the story
is quite an understatement.
Philip
From: Allianz Media [
Sent: Tuesday, 3 June, 2025 7:39 AM
To: Philip Veerman
Subject: RE: TV ad for Allianz
Dear Philip,
Thank you for your email. We appreciate your thoughtful observations, and we have passed your message to our marketing team.
For us, the story of the eagle and the finch is a metaphor that captures how we support our customers through life’s challenges. Just as the eagle helps guide the finch to safety, we aim to provide strength, support,
and care when people need it most. We appreciate that we have taken some creative license to aid in the development of the story. Thank you for suggesting that we could have considered a finch nesting within the sticks of the eagle's nest, to represent 'protection'.
Regarding your inquiry about the choice of the second bird, we looked at many native Australians birds and landed on the endangered Black-throated finch. We chose this species because we thought it was particularly beautiful,
and one that we really wanted to include in our ad.
Thank you again for your enquiry.
Kind regards
The Allianz team
From: Philip Veerman <>
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2025 4:57 PM
To: Allianz Media <>
Subject: TV ad for Allianz
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This is a follow on from an earlier message. I now have some more information and a significant question. My enquiry relates to the TV ad for Allianz. It also was discussed on
(ABC TV) Gruen this week.
The ad featured a crudely done computer-generated animation of a Black-throated Finch and a White-bellied Sea-Eagle. Even though someone took the effort to made the birds identifiable.
We see a cartoon finch that has supposedly lost an egg during a rain storm. It then absurdly carries its egg in its feet whilst flying and then a cartoon Sea-Eagle gave the finch a lift and carried the egg into an imaginary nest. This story line is entirely
and annoyingly ridiculous. People like me need to explain to others who ask, that it is a total nonsense and is entirely AI generated. Nothing of the birds is real. Far too many errors for me to list. For example: The eagle’s beak is not hooked enough. How
did the egg get from the finch’s feet to the eagle’s beak? How did the “nest” move so far from its original location to the end location? Why is the nest nothing like the nest of any Australian finch? I fear that some people might think it is real. I suppose
it is sort of cute but highly misleading that anything like this could happen. I and many others wonder what, if anything, this could mean. It looks like the insurance company is satirising themself. Being so clearly absurd, it looks satirical.
The Gruen panel commented on the Sea-Eagle but none of them even mentioned the finch. They mentioned that Allianz has used a generalised eagle as part of its promotions. On Gruen they suggest the intention was
to suggest that an eagle (as in the insurance company) is a powerful friend. If Allianz wanted to make the point, you could have obtained real film of a finch (or other little bird) nesting within the sticks of an eagle’s nest. The finch is as much a part
of the ad as the Sea-Eagle, and it may actually be the important character. But why choose such an obscure bird? It is a small, inconspicuous, rare species that lives far from most Australians.
Can you explain the choice of the Black-throated Finch? This species may have a connection to Allianz withdrawing support for Adani who intended to mine the very limited habitat
of that finch. There was a big conservation issue about that proposed mine and this threat to its survival. I wondered if Allianz wishes to reference their association with the conservation issue. It appears that Allianz (and others) had withdrawn financial
support for Adani's proposed mine. As such Allianz played a role of some kind in the urgent issue of conservation for this precious little bird. Will you be featuring updates to the story? Am I on the right track?
