Iggy Insurance Ad Banned In U.K.

04/29/09 1:45pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

A television commercial for car insurance featuring Iggy Pop has been banned in Britain because the country's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled it's misleading.

Pop (real name James Osterberg) states, "I got it Swiftcovered! I got insurance on my insurance!" in the clip.

Twelve people complained to the ASA about the commercial because Swiftcover doesn't insure entertainers and Pop isn't insured by the company.

"Because the policy was promoted by a well-known musician, which might lead some viewers to believe the policy covered those who worked in entertainment, when it did not, and because Iggy Pop did not have a policy with Swiftcover, we concluded the ad was misleading," the ASA said in a report.

Swiftcover says it will continue to use Pop in its advertisements despite the ban.

"Iggy Pop and swiftcover.com have made motor insurance interesting for a change, increasing awareness of swiftcover.com and sending our sales soaring by almost a third, so we would be crazy to lose Iggy," Swiftcover spokesperson Tina Shortle told British newspaper The Guardian.

Here's the banned ad:

Pop will release Preliminaires, a jazz album based on Michel Houellebecq's novel La Possibilite D'Une Ile (The Possibility Of An Island), on May 25. Here's Pop talking about it at a press conference that was held in Paris, France on Sunday: