Iggy Pop Insurance

The company Swiftcover.com - formed in 2005 by a group of former Churchill Insurance executives. In 2007 AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA UK plc which forms part of AXA Group - from January 2009 used Iggy Pop to front a £25 million TV ad campaign using the strapline "Get a Life". The ads led to a 31% increase in sales in the first three months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. One specific commercial became notable due to complaints received by the Advertising Standard's Authority:

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"The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the swiftcover.com advert was misleading following complaints the singer would not have been able to buy cover since the insurer excluded people working in the entertainment industry. The ASA received 12 complaints about the advert from viewers who said it was misleading because it was suggested Iggy Pop was insured by swiftcover.com. In the advert, the musician said: "I got it swiftcovered. I got insurance on my insurance!"

Needless to say that Swiftcover had received hundreds of enquiries from musicians searching for low-cost cover. Before the ASA announced its ruling, swiftcover changed its approach and started to insure musicians. Others in the entertainment industry are still not covered. Iggy Pop will continue to front their campaigns. 


Despite accusations of "selling out" Iggy Pop himself remained unrepentant claiming he "didn’t give a sh*t" during a recent press conference for his new album "Preliminaires".

It has to be mentioned that in January 2010 Iggy Pop came back for a new advertising campaign featuring "Little Iggy", a puppet version of Pop. The adverts featured Iggy and "Little Iggy" driving a purple convertible TVR Tuscan and playing golf.

The new campaign again caused rage, however Iggy stayed supportive, revealing to The Sunday Times: "They said they wanted this series of ads to be performed by somebody… somebody you can’t help but like!"

From 30 December 2011, Swiftcover stopped using Iggy Pop for its advertising campaigns, and launched a new campaign featuring a family of animated characters voiced by celebrities including Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, Chris Evans and Noddy Holder. 

According to their latest policy summary, Swiftcover has returned to not insuring anyone working in the entertainment industry, including musicians.

What do you think of Iggy Pop's commercial? 

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