Unum trumps Aviva with upbeat Downton IP ad

Protection provider Unum received a broadly positive reaction on Twitter to its upbeat adverts for income protection, aired last night, in stark contrast to the wave of criticism levelled at larger rival Aviva for its shock-tactic ads.

Unum became the latest income protection provider to target the Downton Abbey viewing audience with a commercial, following in the footsteps of Aviva last week.

The 30 second commercial showed juggler and comedian Mat Ricardo use the classic tablecloth pull to show how people can sometimes have the rug puller from under them.

He then did a reverse pull, demonstrating how income protection can help. You can view the clip here.

Unum's ad was in stark contrast to Aviva's, which show the story of a motorcyclist who crashes, and his subsequent recovery.

Aviva's adverts have been criticised for apparent "poor taste", although many advisers have been pointing out that they deliver an important message.

Last night, the reaction to the Unum advert was fairly muted, although some were clearly pleased to see income protection getting so much coverage:

Tom Baigrie
Great to see Income Protection being advertised on #downtonabbey . Everybody needs a back up plan, so few have one! You can ask me how..

Katharine Moxham
#incomeprotection adverts like buses. You wait 30 years and then 2 come along together! Kidding aside - well done Aviva & Unum.

GroupRiskWorker
Loving the Unum advert tonight...positive steps for the industry

Meanwhile, others were just impressed with the tablecloth trick:

Paul Newton
Has anyone seen the UNUM advert? That's incredible! #howmanytakes

Laura Hayes
That new Unum advert is amazing! youtube.com/watch?v=v8zPl6... Wish I could do that!

However, there was also more reaction to the Aviva clips, most of it on the negative side:

Sarah K
These Aviva adverts are still totally inappropriate attached to Downton :-/

Abi Treadwell-Collin
Downton time. This won't upset me like X Factor although the little Aviva mini drama's doing my head in

Athough praise of some sort did emerge:

soul_of_twit
The Aviva mini-drama in the bookend adverts has more plot and pace than #Downton at the moment :(