The insurer has decided to retire its use of the Peanuts character after over 30 years together.
MetLife Insurance has now made the difficult decision to end its long term relationship with Snoopy. The beloved Peanuts character has represented the insurance company for more than three decades. However, Bloomberg News reported that the character would be phased out of the insurer’s promotions.
Over the next while, the marketing strategy for MetLife will cease to use Snoopy as a component.
Snoopy first started to work for MetLife Insurance back in the 1980s. At that time, the insurance company was looking for a familiar, lovably character that would have draw to the average consumer. MetLife and Snoopy created advertising that was considered to be iconic and quite powerful in catching consumer attention and engaging them. The ads were surprisingly effective and achieved results that are rarely seen in marketing for insurance products.
MetLife Insurance explained its decision and had nothing negative to say about Snoopy.
According to MetLife Chief Marketing Officer Esther Lee, “We have a lot of affection for Snoopy.” Lee went on to say that “He’s rated very high as a good friend and on approachability. Where he didn’t rate as high is things like, as a leader, keeps promises, is a good adviser.”
True enough, in the original comic strip, Snoopy was known for some rather playful antics. He did tease his owner, Charlie Brown. That said, he was also the boy’s best friend and took care of his little bird friend, Woodstock, at the same time. As much as Snoopy loves to live in his imagination and may even play the occasional prank, he is still a reliable, relatable friend.
Therefore, it appears as though the MetLife Insurance decision to stop using Snoopy as a mascot was more of a layoff than an outright firing. Moreover, this wasn’t the only change the company announced to its marketing. It has also changed its tagline to “MetLife. Navigating life together.” Clearly, the insurance company is going through a period in which it is redefining itself in terms of the marketing strategy it will be using going forward.
