Nationwide Insurance Brings Back Pony-Hawked Idol

by nicole ~ August 21, 2008

Who can forget Sanjaya Malakar, one of American Idol’s most controversial contestants, according to an article in Advertising Age? Well… to be honest…I had forgotten him already. Yes, I confess to being a bit of an Idol fan, but was truly happy to see this kid go. Fortunately, for those of you who do not share this sentiment, you can now catch Mr. Malakar in this Nationwide Insurance advertisement, which launched today.

This isn’t the first time Nationwide has used celebrities poking fun at themselves for their commercials. In the past they have featured Kevin Federline, MC Hammer and Fabio.

I do vaguely remember this Federline commercial, but if you asked me (before today) what the advertisement was for, I would have had no clue…and I definitely would not have thought of it when purchasing insurance. In fact, I think it might be safe to say that most people who are old enough to be purchasing life insurance may not even know who Sanjaya Malakar is. This obviously was not the sentiment for Nationwide. According to Nationwide’s press release:

“The ad featuring Sanjaya is one of six new spots designed to help Nationwide reach South Asian American consumers. It will air on U.S. cable stations catering to South Asian audiences. This is the third year for Nationwide’s South Asian advertising campaign.

‘We know from watching American Idol that Sanjaya appeals to many audiences,’ said Steven Schreibman, Nationwide’s vice president of advertising and brand management. ‘We knew that because of his South Asian heritage and a great personal Life Comes at You Fast story, Sanjaya was a good fit. We found out that there is a lot of public interest in seeing the ad, so we made it available online’.”

Personally, I’m not sure I buy it. It seems like this add is great for YouTube hits, since Sanjaya fans are probably wondering what he is up to these days, but will anyone remember who the commercial is for? What do you think?