When was the last time an insurance ad made you pause? Not scroll past or skip — actually stop, laugh, and, most importantly, think?

That’s exactly what Leadway has done with its No Looseguard campaign. If you haven’t seen the now-viral term life assurance ad, start there.

For years, Nigerian insurance ads have echoed the same predictable refrain: life is uncertain, insurance matters, protect your future. The message made sense, but never truly landed. Not because people don’t understand insurance, but because they don’t feel the urgency.

Why? Partly due to a deeply rooted belief: “God will protect.” Pray, live right, be careful, and nothing bad will happen. Most Nigerians simply don’t see themselves as the ones life will hit.

Life assurance, unlike insurance that guards against possibility, is a bet against certainty. Death. But even then, it’s hard for people to imagine their own end. Yes, they know it’s coming — just not now. Not soon.

Then Leadway flipped the script.

Instead of selling life assurance as a product, they framed it as a smart move. In the ad, a man wakes up to what seems like a very unlucky day. From the moment he tries to get out of bed, it feels like his time is up. His wife and kids are out, and everything around him spells bad luck. He runs into a Leadway agent, visits the website, and signs up for life assurance — right there, on the spot.

It’s hilarious, relatable, and quietly profound. Leadway reframes life assurance as a way to outsmart death. We don’t know if the man’s misfortunes stop, but once he signs up, there’s a visible shift. He feels lighter. Even if death wins, he won’t be leaving his family stranded.

With that single, simple story, Leadway turns life assurance into the ultimate power move. Not a gloomy backup plan — but a final act of control. The message? You may not beat death, but you can beat the consequences. If the man had died without coverage, his family would suffer. But now, though it would still hurt, they’d have something to hold onto.

Another reason the campaign hits home is the language.

No Looseguard doesn’t sound like corporate jargon. It’s not what you expect from an insurance company in a suit and tie. It sounds like something your guys would say over suya and drinks. Like the kind of warning the sisterhood gives in a group chat: “Don’t dull. Don’t looseguard.” By the time viewers realised it was Leadway talking, the message had landed. It didn’t feel like a brand trying to sell something. It felt like a friend giving you solid advice.

That’s why the campaign is so thought-provoking. It’s not just pushing Nigerians to rethink life assurance — it’s challenging them to rethink what it means to be prepared. If being smart means planning ahead, then not having life assurance isn’t smart. It’s leaving yourself exposed. It’s looseguarding.

Leadway’s ad is more than a marketing campaign. It’s a cultural nudge — reframing life assurance not as a fallback for the fearful, but as a calculated strategy for the wise.

Now, more Nigerians are choosing where they want to belong, not by fear, but by foresight.