We Need A Superhero!

In case you're wondering why the insurance industry has such a poor public image, one big problem is how the business is often characterized in popular culture as the epitome of evil. The latest example is the new TV series, "Leverage."

In a Dec. 8 preview article headlined "Hail To The Thieves," TV Guide notes that lead character Nathan Ford "used to spend his life abiding by the law, tracking down bad guys as an investigator for an insurance company." WOW, I thought! At last!! A TV show about a good guy in insurance!!!

I should have known better. "When tragedy strikes and his own family needs help, the [insurance] company he's spent years working for turns its back on him, so Nathan switches sides," the article adds.

Seems Nathan's carrier refused to pay for a transplant to save his son's life, and the kid dies. As a result, Nathan turns into a "modern day Robin Hood," assembling a group of thieves he used to pursue as his "Merry Men" to "take on the rich and corrupt" and "fight for the everyday person."

In the Dec. 16 episode, we meet the character who replaced Nathan as his former insurer's top fraud investigator. The guy, of course, is a sleazy jerk--without pity or sense of decency. Nathan insists his client is innocent of arson. The investigator is contemptuous of our white knight, spitting out the immortal words that sum up what far too many feel about this industry.

"We're insurance men," he sneers. "We don't care who's guilty or who's innocent--only who pays." How nice. No wonder the public thinks everyone in this business is crooked or insensitive.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Insurers--in the rare times they do appear in TV, movies or novels--are almost always the bad guys! Is this life imitating art, or just lazy, stereotypical writing? Is the best image this industry can hope for on the pop culture scene a sourpuss caveman and a silly gecko?

Somehow, insurance seems to be unique in its lack of public appreciation. Despite police brutality, medical malpractice and ambulance-chasing attorneys, dozens of police, medical and legal dramas show cops, doctors and lawyers saving lives and fortunes. Yet there are no saintly, "McDreamy"-like insurance characters.

In fact, the last positive pop icon from the world of insurance I recall was "Longstreet"--a BLIND insurance investigator in an ABC show that ran for only 23 episodes in the early 1970s.

As long as insurers are dismissed as scoundrels in the entertainment media, it will be that much harder for the industry to burnish its badly tarnished reputation.

Perhaps carriers should fight fire with fire. Why not sponsor a new drama, "Masters Of Disaster," about dynamic adjusters who brave the horrors of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other catastrophes to make insureds whole again?

Or maybe it's time for a remake of the vision-impaired "Longstreet," who is helped by all sorts of cool, high-tech gadgets to expose the thousands who file false claims.

Or maybe we need to counter "Leverage" with "Gotcha!"--featuring savvy, sassy and even sexy investigators who pretend to be crooks, only to con the REAL insurance frauds into exposing their dirty schemes--slapping on the handcuffs exactly five minutes before each episode ends.

All kidding aside, perhaps a weekly reality TV program portraying insurance company special investigative units at work might show that insurers can actually be the good guys, and fun to watch!