There's Nothing Funny About Getting Rear-Ended by a Clown
Aleena Juarez
· 3 min read
Anyone who has ever been in a
car accident
knows it can feel like being caught up in a circus— too much is going on. Blue lights are flashing, a crowd is gathering, and you're trying to stay calm while being worried about how this will affect your car insurance
. Usually there are no real clowns involved, but that wasn’t the case for one
Farmers Insurance
customer. It was one of those moments that are both hilarious and concerning at the same time. 
Farmers Insurance’s clown commercial is based on a real claim
Car crashes are the opposite of fun. The drivers could be hurt, you have to talk to the police, and call your insurance agent to file a damages claim. It's usually not fun for the agent either, and their first priority is making sure their customers are okay. For one Farmers agent, however, this claim was a real bag of laughs.
As featured on
Farmers Insurance's
site, Thomas Forsythe, a Farmers Insurance agent, got a call for one of the most unusual claims. One of Forsythe's customers, an emergency room doctor, called the agent and said, "Some clown just rear-ended me!" After making sure no one was hurt in the wreck, they both had a good laugh. Of course, being rear-ended is no joke, but the situation was so ridiculous that it was funny. Forsythe entered the incident into the Farmers Claim to Fame contest knowing it was the perfect tale.
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The clown claim won the Hall of Claims grand prize
MORE: Are Farmers Insurance’s 'Hall of Claims' Commercials Actually Real?
The best news you can usually expect from your agent is that your claim went through smoothly, and you'll be receiving a check in the mail soon. Forsythe had something much better to tell his customer when he called him a few months later.
He told the customer that Farmers liked the story so much they were going to make it into a national commercial. Forsythe was invited to watch the filming, and even got to meet J.K. Simmons; the actor who plays Professor Nathaniel Burke. He also got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Hall of Claims.
The commercial was an instant hit. Seeing a man rear-ended by a clown car, and then having his vehicle surrounded by clowns, is both hilarious and unnerving.
How does the Hall of Claims help promote Farmers Insurance?
As strange as some Farmers commercials are, they are all based on real claims. Featuring wild claims in their commercials helps customers feel like they’ll be covered no matter what. It also builds trust in the company.
It just goes to show that life is anything but predictable, which is why you need good insurance to help you navigate through unexpected scenarios. That's where
Jerry
can help. The free app will make sure you have affordable coverage so you’re protected from any weird fender benders or accidents. You can sign up in under 45 seconds. After that, Jerry goes to work comparing quotes to make sure you have the best price for the coverage you need.
