NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Doug Heller, 310-392-0522, ext. 309; or Naomi Seligman, 310-392-0522, ext. 318
Car Insurance Company Spending Millions On Ads That Lie About Its Lies
Santa Monica, CA – The insurance company-funded campaign for Proposition 17 — the measure to hike auto insurance rates — has begun airing its first TV ad across the state, and it’s a whopper, said consumer advocates fighting the measure. The ad begins with the following words spoken and shown on the screen: “There is only one place to get the facts about Prop 17: The official Voter Guide.”
The ad then goes on to quote only from the Yes on 17 ballot arguments provided to the Secretary of State by the insurance company sponsor of Prop 17. No actual facts are included in the ad and not a single piece of independent, unbiased information about the initiative is provided despite the implication that the advertisement is providing “official facts” about Prop 17.
“Prop 17’s sponsor, Mercury Insurance, has launched its ad blitz the same way it launched its campaign, with deception aimed at covering up a lie,” said consumer advocate Doug Heller with the Stop Prop 17 campaign. “The ad misleads voters into thinking that this biased information is from a trusted source, when, in fact, it just quotes the lies Mercury submitted as its best arguments for Prop 17. The only thing honest in this ad is the mandatory disclosure revealing it is paid for by Mercury Insurance.”
Mercury Insurance has now spent over $7 million trying to deceive voters about Prop 17. The measure, which is opposed by all of California’s consumer protection organizations, would allow car insurance companies to increase premiums for drivers based on their history of purchasing auto insurance.
Actual facts about the initiative include the following official statements about Prop 17:
· “Will allow insurance companies to increase cost of insurance to drivers who do not have a history of continuous insurance coverage.” [From the Attorney General's Title and Summary for Prop 17]
· “That is, if an insurer offers a continuous coverage discount for some drivers it will result in a surcharge for other drivers.” [From the Department of Insurance analysis of Prop 17]
“It’s not surprising that the executives at Mercury Insurance are lying about Prop 17, because they don’t want voters to know Prop 17 will lead to higher insurance rates. Insurance companies don’t spend millions to save us money, and this first ad is more proof that voters can’t trust the insurance company backers of Prop 17,” said Heller.
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For more information, please visit: http://StopProp17.org or find us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stopmercury and facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/stopprop17
Tags: big corporations, deceptive, Mercury, News Release, Prop 17
