Corporate Minds Think Alike on ‘Thank-Yous’
Two California financial institutions have the same idea when it comes to thanking customers for sticking with them. Exactly the same idea.
Bank of America and Shearson Lehman Mortgage this summer are “thanking” their customers with identical pitches--some sentences are repeated word for word--for accidental death and dismemberment insurance.
The form-letter promotions offer a free $1,000 policy while pitching coverage of up to $150,000 for a monthly fee. The policies are underwritten by Continental Casualty Co. of Chicago and are pitched to banking and mortgage customers nationwide.
The insurance helps financial institutions keep customers, since policies are canceled when a customer closes a bank account or pays off a mortgage.
BofA’s thank-you offers went to former Security Pacific customers who stuck with it through the merger.
Consumer advocates say free coverage is a no-lose deal, but advise saying “no thanks” to additional coverage. The policies don’t cover illness and most injuries, no matter how disabling.
“We strongly advise against accidental death coverage,” said Gail Hillebrand, an attorney with Consumers Union in San Francisco. “People need life insurance that covers all the possibilities.”
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Profit sharing: Each bottle of Rhino Chasers beer, a Culver City-based micro brew, bears this remarkable pledge: “The majority of our profits are donated to the African Wildlife Foundation.”
Under a licensing agreement, the 2-year-old brewery that makes Rhino Chasers has promised 51% of its profit to the foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of rhinoceroses, elephants and other animals. There is one hitch: Rhino Chasers hasn’t yet made any money.
“I guess you could say we’ve given them 100% of our profits,” said Michael D. Riley, president of William & Scott Co., the Rhino Chasers brewer.
The Washington-based African Wildlife Foundation said it is not unhappy about its relationship with Rhino Chasers, since the brand draws attention to the foundation. However, the foundation said it is negotiating “a more realistic” contract that would base donations on Rhino Chasers sales.
Book deal: How can you get an expensive children’s book for a fraction of the cost? Buy a share of Santa Monica-based Intervisual Books Inc. and wait for the annual report to arrive.
A leading designer of three-dimensional “pop-up” books, Intervisual bound its 1992 annual report into extra copies of one of the company’s most popular titles, “Haunted House” by children’s author Jan Pienkowski. Shareholders picked up copies at the company’s annual meeting last week.
President and Chief Executive Charles E. Gates said it was cheaper to convert “Haunted House” into an annual report than to design and produce a conventional report. That is because the company was already printing “Haunted House” for sale and it is inexpensive to print 5,000 additional copies.
The book retails at $14.95, making the annual report a prize to shareholders. That’s a 200% return for shareholders who purchased one share at $5, the company’s average stock price last year. Gates said Intervisual plans a second pop-up annual report for 1993.
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Pampering pets: A Burbank couple has developed what is thought to be the first-ever sunscreen specifically for cats, dogs and horses who won’t stay out of the sun. The product is called Pet Shade and it is available mostly through mail order.
Sarah Millar, formerly an associate director for the “Muppets Show” television program, said she developed the product with her husband because their five dogs suffered from sunburned noses and ear tips. She said the product has been tested on the family pets.
Thierry Olivry, a veterinarian at the animal clinic at UC Davis, said Pet Shade appears to contain the right ingredients. The only question is whether it is worth the price.
A 4-ounce bottle costs $10.95, about one-third more than human sunscreens Olivry recommends for the noses, ears and bellies of light-skinned pets.
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Odds and ends: The U.S. Postal Service has started taking credit cards and automated teller machine cards at post offices in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Orlando and Washington, in part to compete with non-government delivery services such as Federal Express. The Postal Service will begin accepting MasterCard, Visa, Discover and ATM cards in other cities sometime next year. . . . Burger King is accepting Visa, MasterCard and ATM cards at 18 company-owned fast-food restaurants in Kansas City as part of a test. Carl’s Jr. already accepts ATM cards at its California locations.
Saying ‘Thanks’
Bank of America and Shearson Lehman Mortgage say thank-you to their customers with mail solicitations for the same accidental death and dismemberment coverage. Phrases used in the pitches are nearly identical.
