Eric Poe is really good at making bets on football.
Poe, the chief executive officer of CURE Auto Insurance — the Princeton-based company known as much for selling affordable no-fault insurance as for producing hilarious Super Bowl ads — signed Eagles’ star Saquon Barkley to be the company’s latest celebrity spokesperson in December.
Poe then gambled that the Eagles would reach the big game, filming this year’s Super Bowl ad at the start of the playoffs.
“I had a good feeling about it,” he said from New Orleans, site of the Eagles’ demolition of the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX Sunday.
Barkley, far from the star of the game, had a starring role in the CURE ad, talking about his new role in a mock press conference.
“My new position as a spokesperson for CURE Auto Insurance,” he said. “Seriously, with savings over 30%, go to CURE.”
Poe usually waits to see who is playing before filming his Super Bowl ad. This year, he went with his gut.
The ad was filmed on the players’ off-day (Tuesday) following the final week of the regular season. And it didn’t take long to do. Poe said Barkley is a natural.
“It took two or three takes, tops,” he said. “He’s really good in front of a camera.”
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Eric Poe is really good at hedging his football bets.
CURE was founded in 1989, when it offered an alternative during the state’s raging auto insurance problem (remember when companies did not want to sell here?).
For decades, CURE made its mark operating out of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York City. In 2021, CURE entered the Michigan market, where Poe said the company is doing great.
“We’re actually almost as big in Michigan as we are in New Jersey,” he said.
In addition to the now famous talking blue ball CURE uses in TV ads, Poe has long signed NFL players (the Giants’ Malik Nabers also is a spokesperson).
So, when CURE entered the Michigan market, Poe quickly added Lions’ QB Jared Goff, RB Jahmyr Gibbs and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown to his roster.
Yes, he was ready to have Lions-based Super Bowl ads going, too – until the team was surprisingly bounced in the divisional round.
Poe is glad he has options. And he jokes that his lineup of spokespeople would make for a pretty good fantasy football team.
Of course, he also understands reality.
At no point did he think about creating a Giants Super Bowl ad.
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Eric Poe is really good at understanding Super Bowl advertising.
Let’s start here: CURE didn’t pay the reported $7 million for a 30-second ad that this year’s game was asking. That’s the cost for a national spot. A few times a game, however, there is an opportunity to make a local market buy.
Poe always jumps at the chance, grabbing the Philly (and South Jersey) market, the New York (and North Jersey) market and now the Michigan market. Those ads sell for considerably less (the league bundles all the markets together, potentially pulling in even more than $7 million total).
Poe said CURE paid more than $200K for the Philly market, and maybe two or three times that for New York, he estimated. Poe feels he got a good deal, especially in Philly, where he bought his spot before the Eagles won the NFC Championship — which made those rates skyrocket.
Poe, who has been buying Super Bowl ads for more than a decade, feels they are more than worth it. He notes that with the pre-game hype and potential social media use, the public is exposed to the ad on plenty of occasions other than during the actual game.
Of course, when the ad airs matters, too.
Poe said he always makes sure he gets good placement (this year’s ad ran as the game was going into the halftime show).
“I feel like that’s the best time,” he said. “It’s the part of the game where so many people are coming into the room to watch the halftime show.”
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Eric Poe is really good at making sure his CURE ads get attention.
He usually makes them funny – often risqué.
CURE’s “Blue balls” ad in 2015, playing off the ‘Deflategate’ scandal, was banned before it even ran. CURE’s 2021 ad was simply entitled, ‘Whip it out.’
Then there was CURE’s “avoid distractions” ad in 2016, where a son misses his dad’s last words from his hospital bed because he was staring at a nurse. That got a lot of attention – and a lot of hate mail.
“Plenty of people were upset about that one,” Poe said with a laugh.
Poe didn’t mind. He said it’s all part of making a lasting impression in 30 seconds.
This year’s ad with Barkley was more straightforward — simply set around the star running back.
“I figured he was such a national figure, had such an incredible season, that it was smart to just focus on him,” he said.
Poe also said he wonders if the days of the crazy Super Bowl ads are over.
“Because of the political and cultural climate, Super Bowl commercials have become less interesting,” he said. “They used to be much more edgy — even offensive.
“You can’t be as edgy as you were before, so the impact on the commercials isn’t as great – and maybe people don’t necessarily tune into them as much.
“It used to be, ‘Oh my God, I’m so excited to see the halftime commercials.’ I think the last two or three years, it’s been tame.”
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Eric Poe is really good at selling auto insurance.
Or, at least, overcoming industry obstacles.
CURE came about during the auto insurance crisis three decades ago. And while more companies sell in the state, the challenges still exist.
“There are a lot of things going on that impact pricing,” he said. “We had the COVID supply chain shortages, which drove up the cost for repairing a vehicle. And then there was a new law that increased the minimum amount of insurance that everyone had to buy in the state of New Jersey.
“So, a quarter of all the drivers, those who bought the state minimum liability, saw their rates go up in 2023. This impacted the poorest people.”
Poe said it’s getting back to a crisis level in the state.
That’s why he’s taking action.
Poe said he has worked to get bills written (but they haven’t been passed) that would address issues involving income and zip code of potential customers (among other issues).
He has filed lawsuits — and is prepared to file more, he said.
“We need to do something to address this,” he said. “It’s important for people to be able to afford car insurance in New Jersey.”
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Eric Poe is really good at … acting?
The mock press conference in this year’s ad featured two “reporters” talking to Barkley after he announced his new position: Serving as a spokesperson for CURE.
The second questioner was none other than Poe himself.
“We’ve been doing these for so long and I had never been in one,” he said. “I figured, at some point — when I’m like 80 — I was going to look back and wonder why.
“Now, I can say I was in a Super Bowl ad with Saquon Barkley. That’s pretty cool.”
And pretty cheap.
“There’s nothing like unpaid talent,” he joked.
Poe said CURE will do more with Barkley. A second ad already has been filmed and already is running (Barkley talks about getting an ‘MVP’ — which he reveals is a ‘Most Valuable Policy’ from CURE).
Expect billboards and other marketing efforts, too.
And Poe promises CURE will be back at the Super Bowl next year, too.
He loves the thrill of creating the ads — and he loves the perks (two tickets to the game) that come with the ad buy.
“There aren’t a whole lot of local businesses that can afford to do a Super Bowl ad — or think it’s worth it,” he said. “We think it’s something that separates CURE from others.”
