2011《财富》最愚蠢商业事件大盘点（上）

好事达保险公司的星座冷幽默

    好事达保险公司（Allstate Corp.）在进行2010年事故率排名时，试图通过星座来幽默一把。但保险公司的幽默细胞藏得太深，结果，这个玩笑自然遭遇冷场。

    2月2日，好事达发布了一则新闻稿，称所有星座中，“焦虑害羞”的处女座最容易发生事故，而最安全的则是天蝎座。文章表示“去年，与坚决冷静的天蝎座相比，处女座发生车祸的几率大约是700%。”

    好事达的语气一如既往地冷静而稳重。这可是一家保险公司，而不是洋葱新闻（The Onion），结果人们对它的说法都信以为真。

    好事达之后的致歉甚至比之前的玩笑更冷峻：“从保险精算的角度考虑，通过占星术进行评级并不完美。我们理解，辛勤工作的客户对保险开支非常重视。我们也是如此。”

    或许他们应该挑愚人节的时候尝试这种玩笑。——亚伦•史密斯

Allstate ties insurance to zodiac...NOT

    Allstate Corp. was just trying to be funny when it ranked 2010 accident rates by Zodiac signs. But insurers are not known for their comic wit, and the joke fell flat on its face.

    Allstate issued a press release on Feb. 2 saying that "worried and shy" Virgos were the most accident-prone of all signs while Scorpios had the safest rate of all. "Over the past year, Virgos were nearly 700% more likely to be in a car accident when compared to the determined and aware Scorpio," said the presser.

    Allstate's deadpan tone was stone cold sober. But this was an insurance company, not The Onion, and people thought it was real.

    Allstate followed with an apology was even more solemn than its joke: "Rating by astrology would not be actuarially sound. We realized that our hard working customers view their insurance expense very seriously. So do we."

    Maybe they should have tried it on April Fool's Day.-- Aaron Smith