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?
