By Drew Grant 8/21/12 1:16pm

Progressive Insurance

Progressive Insurance: It keeps growing, and growing, and growing...

Progressive Insurance Loses Thousands of Customers, Sees Soaring Stock After Matt Fisher Fiasco

Last week, Progressive Insurance had the biggest social media #FAIL of its history when it decided to engage Matt Fisher, a young Brooklyn comedian who wrote a Tumblr post accusing the auto insurance agency of refusing to pay out the premium on his sister’s policy after she was killed in a car accident. In fact, Progressive went so far as to list itself with the defendant of the case in a civil suit.

Now, insurance companies do shady shit all the time. That’s why they are insurance companies an are run by guys who look like Ted Bundy with capped teeth. But they usually aren’t stupid. Yet Progressive’s reaction to Mr. Fisher’s claim wasn’t just to send out a press release saying how sorry they were for the unfortunate turn of events, but actually take to Twitter, where they launched a robo-tweet campaign claiming their innocence at anyone who tried to say otherwise.

This, obviously, did not have great results. Read More

By Drew Grant 8/17/12 3:02pm

Progresssive PR Wreck

A Facebook post is worth a thousand words (Progressive's FB)

The Power of Tumblr: Progressive Insurance Reaches Settlement With Fisher Family

Previously: [Comedian Matt Fisher Claims Sister’s Progressive Insurance Paid for Her Killer’s Lawyers]

[Update: Progressive Auto-Tweets to ‘Killer’ Claim, Matt Fisher Shoots Back]

Never underestimate the power of internet shaming! Not five days after New York comedian Matt Fisher recounted the tragic story of his sister’s fatal car accident and her auto insurance company that went so far as to intervene on behalf of the defendant in court to avoid paying out the premium on her policy, Progressive has agreed to pony up the entire amount due to the Fisher family. Read More

By Drew Grant 8/15/12 1:22pm

Crimes

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Update: Progressive Auto-Tweets to ‘Killer’ Claim, Matt Fisher Shoots Back

Read: Comedian Matt Fisher Claims Sister’s Progressive Insurance Paid for Her Killer’s Lawyer

The media has picked up the torch of New York comedian Matt Fisher, whose family has been battling Progressive Insurance since his sister was killed in a car crash in 2010. According to Mr. Fisher’s Tumblr posting, his sister’s insurance company actually got its lawyer to defend the driver at fault for the accident, just so it wouldn’t have to pay out her policy to the grieving family.

Yesterday, Progressive responded by auto-tweeting this statement to people who wrote about Progressive on Twitter: Read More

By Drew Grant 8/13/12 6:18pm

Death and Tumblr

Progressive (YouTube)

Comedian Matt Fisher Claims Sister’s Progressive Insurance Paid for Her Killer’s Lawyers

 

[Update: Progressive Auto-Tweets to ‘Killer’ Claim, Matt Fisher Shoots Back]

If you’re going to only read one Tumblr post today (no, animated GIFs don’t count), make it Matt Fisher’s: the New York-based comedian posted an equally devastating and amazing (as in, not to be believed) story about Progressive, the auto insurance company, and the lengths they went to not to pay out for his sister’s death after she her car was hit by a reckless driver. Read More