Update: GEICO and Tri-State Come to Terms
May 2nd, 2006 by Megan Mahan
Just a week after GEICO threatened to sue New York’s Tri-State Insurance Company, the gloves are reportedly back on.
According to Newsday.com, both sides came to an agreement today. Tri-State [also known as as TSC Direct] will discontinue the ads that GEICO alleged were unfair and harmed the super-insurer’s image. Accordingly, GEICO will withdraw its lawsuit.
Despite the truce, Tri-State’s president, Penny Hart, maintains that the company’s ads were within the confines of the law and competitive advertising.
Hart went on to say:
Without any admission of liability, TSC Direct has chosen to discontinue running print and radio advertising relating to the GEICO gecko and the firm as been notified by GEICO’s attorneys that the lawsuit has been dismissed.
I believe we created a marketing program that conjured up GEICO’s gecko in a totally fitting and appropriate manner, using humor to present competitive choices to the consumer. [Emphasis mine] However, it is time to use a new creative advertising program that shifts attention away from the courthouse and back to protecting the consumer’s pocketbook.
Classic. Small company gets bullied by big company; small company concedes rather than get caught up in a lengthy and expensive legal battle.
I’m interested by Hart’s comment about presenting competitive choices to the consumer. Makes you wonder–is the consumer really benefiting from big names stomping on the smaller guys? I’d hate to think that deeper pockets determine justice…not what’s right.
[Big thanks to InsureMe's James Omdahl for today's link.]
