Following the news of UK life insurer, DeadHappy, has run into anger over its recent advertising campaign featuring an image of Harold Shipman accompanied by the line “because you never know who your doctor might be”;

Benjamin Hatton, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“DeadHappy has positioned itself as a new and creative player in the life insurance industry through its blunt but often humorous branding. With straplines such as “life insurance to die for” and “please die responsibly”, the insurer is clearly looking to bring life insurance to younger consumers with its unique branding and website design featuring skulls and graffiti-style writing. It uses very direct and simple language, and everything can be done online, as it looks to engage millennials in the life insurance market. According to the insurer itself, 8.5 million UK adults do not have life insurance, so there is clearly large, untapped potential within the market.

“One of the most significant barriers to growth for insurance startups is consumer recognition. According to GlobalData’s 2022 UK Insurance Consumer Survey, the most well-known insurtech brand in the UK, Marmalade, was recognized by just 14.4% of consumers. DeadHappy is in second place on this list, growing from 9.3% recognition in 2020 to 14.3% in 2022. DeadHappy’s advertising campaigns and strategies, although evidently not universally popular, is clearly helping it to grow its brand.

“DeadHappy is looking to change consumer attitudes towards death and make conversations surrounding life insurance less arduous than many believe is currently the case. This advertising campaign is quite on-brand for the company, which has already been in trouble once for allegedly ‘trivializing suicide’ in an advert in 2019. Perhaps stepping over the line again, this will continue to drive interest in the band, and perhaps ultimately, grow interest in purchasing life insurance when people see it treated in a different light to traditional players. Despite the current negative headlines featuring in publications beyond the insurance press, DeadHappy may feel the publicity will be beneficial in the long run.”