Osama Bin Laden Used to Sell Insurance Policy in Kanpur

Dear terrorists, new firman issued, Kill 10, take a branded T-shirt and be best terrorist in the group. Jihad begins from July 18-20.
–Osama bin Laden

The above is not a message on the Al-Jajeera channel and neither it is from Osama. It was the creative minds at ICICI-Prudential Life Insurance company (A joint venture between ICICI and Prudential plc. Engaged in private life insurance.) on overdrive, exhorting Insurance Agents to go for sales kill.

Named ‘Mission Jihad’, the strategy involved setting up posters of Osama Bin Laden complete with mock AK-47 assault rifles and Pakistani flags, fluttering all around the office.

The Mall Road branch manager, Sanjeev Bhatia launched ‘Mission Jihad’ to improve his branch’s performance. At the meeting of the company’s agents on Tuesday night, employees were asked to adopt Laden’s strategy - one terrorist killing 10 people. In this instance jihad meant insurance policy sales. The reward for the best killer (err. salesman) was a glass tumbler, named, you guessed it, after Osama bin Laden.

“At the meeting the insurance company personnel apprised the agents of Laden’s strategy and how he targeted his victims. We were told to adopt the same to popularise the insurance policy” said an agent.

Motivation is always said to be an important aspect of marketing but eulogising terrorist mastermind of our times and Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden for selling life insurance policies is certainly going to fetch brickbats and it did. When the news got leaked to the media, the move, contrary to expectations, boomeranged, and drew flak from many.

The city police have so far arrested five persons under sections 156 (3) and 120 B of Indian Penal Code.

Police have also recovered half-burnt posters of Osama as the company officials burnt the whole set up of ‘Mission Jihad’ before the arrival of police at the site.

Courtesy of Times of India (Kolkata) offline edition.

PS. Now I know how the insurance agents view their clients - as victims.