Lemonade’s rebuttal to competitors' attack video

Lemonade has responded to State Farm’s recent attack video by funding the promotion of its competitor’s advert.

The US based insurtech is showing everyone that “when life give you lemons it makes lemonade.”

Last week US based State Farm released an advert “RoboAgent (:45)” featuring basketball star James Harden and The Office actor, Oscar Nunez.

It pokes fun at Lemonade by ridiculing the usage of bots and technology in insurance casting a “knock-off robot” who begins to cry with jets of tears shooting sideways from his eyes when questioned whether he had the same compassion as humans in dealing with customers.

The robot then collapses in tears on a car bonnet after being ridiculed by his co-actors.

Rebuttal

But the insurtech was quick to respond on social media tweeting “Wait, @StateFarm, did you just fork out millions of your customers’ premiums on an attack ad against Lemonade_Inc and bots? As in, the country’s biggest insurance company is feeling the heat and getting Alisters to bash technology?”

And yesterday Lemonade’s co-founder and chief operating officer, Shai Wininger’s published a response on Linkedin.

He said that the paying to promote its competitors’ advert was “the craziest thing” it has done so far.

Wininger explained that the video was created to “mock Lemonade’s technology and bots. And we just love it.”

”The ad relies on schoolyard name-calling with statements: Look at his face, look at his nose, probably never had a girlfriend.”

He added: “By resorting to mockery, State Farm exposes their insecurities around Lemonade and innovation in general. That’s empowering.”

The insurtech’s chief executive and co-founder, Daniel Schreiber also voiced his opinion on Linkedin, he said that the firm welcomes the advert explaining that it was a “sign that something dramatic is happening.”

Lemonade recently announced that they plan to launch globally by the end of 2018 and at the beginning of the month it partnered with WeWork to provide renters insurance to WeLive customers in New York and Washington.

State Farm’s response

A spokesperson for State Farm, said: ”Our ads are intended to educate and inform as well as differentiate us from our competitors, and our differentiator is the ability to overlay human relationships with enhanced technology. We have strong relationships with our customers and continue to offer the digital capabilities they want and need.”

State Farm is a large US based insurer that provides motor, SME and home insurance.