Eye 4 Travel (yes, we know it’s a PR wire) had this bit of advertising astroturf (it appears to be a real grass roots story, but it’s fake once you really examine it) that had the shocking, just shocking headline:
"[R]esearch has indicated that one in four Brits (24 percent) still plan to go on holiday this year without travel insurance.
Chris Rolland, Head [of] American Express Insurance Services, said, "As the cost of living rises and there is less money left over at the end of each month, our research shows that one in four Brits are struggling to meet the cost of holiday insurance. If it is a case of people cutting back on travel insurance in order to afford their holidays then perhaps they should think twice before booking. Should something happen, the current economic market means that the last thing Brits need now is an unexpected bill."
A few notes:
1) “Head” is a sucky title for Mr. Rolland
2) This “article” basically says that 76% of Briton’s buy travel insurance on a regular basis. Can that be?
3) We can’t seriously believe that American Express is saying “if you can’t buy the travel insurance, you shouldn’t really be travelling…” Way to advertise fear Amex !!
Interestingly - the article goes on to mention that the "research" was performed by a group called Yougov. Well, we did some digging and found this story:
"A May [2007] survey for Norwich Union, conducted by YouGov, found that a quarter of all British travellers go without insurance. The study also found that while travellers believe that lost baggage is the main reason why they might need to make a claim, in fact medical emergency and cancellation are far bigger risks. And those can be a lot more costly than a missing suitcase."
Hmmmm - Same study performed a year earlier with same results... Great work if you can get it.
No comments:
Post a Comment