The Power(?) of Comparison Ads

In just one day this week, I saw three TV spots from Progressive, GEICO, and State Farm, each declaring that you can save money by switching from one of the aforementioned brands. We're all familiar with these kinds of claims, but seeing them in such quick succession, it finally sunk in that they can't all be telling the truth, or at least there's more to the story.

And it became immediately obvious, even though I've thought about these ads for ages and even spent 15 weeks working on a project for GEICO. Ultimately, they weren't comparing Progressive with GEICO, or State Farm with Progressive--they were comparing your current plan with switching. If you're price conscious and wondering if you could get a better deal elsewhere and you'd be willing to switch, you're pretty certain to choose a cheaper plan, even if it doesn't provide the same kind of coverage as before. The act of switching itself is likely to result in lower costs, regardless of which companies you start and end with.

Similarly, both Progresso and Campbell's Select have TV spots out right now saying that 7 out of 10 consumers preferred their soup...though in small print, Campbell's Select says that they're referencing the INGREDIENTS in the soup. 

So what's the deal? Are we really getting anywhere with our consumers when our competition can make the same claims as we can? Are we asking too much of consumers to notice the subtle differences? 

Yet another- Domino's and Subway have been at odds over CP+B's recent comparison ads. But in this case, Domino's was saying twice as many people preferred the taste of their sandwiches to Subway's. Well no shit! Subway's subs are the HEALTHY alternative--they're the tastiest of the healthy fast food options, but its no surprise that the Domino's subs would be tastier. I think the ads are really really smart on Domino's part, it's just hard for Subway to counteract their effect...if they have any that is.