Allstate's Press Release Joke Backfires

Allstate Corp. issued a press release showing the accident rates of drivers according to their zodiac signs, as a joke, but ended up backfiring. It said that Scorpios have a "perfectionist nature," making them the safest drivers in 2010 with only 26,833 accidents. On the other hand, it said that Virgos are "worried and shy" and had 211,650 accidents.

Allstate retracted the press release saying that it was meant as a joke, and that a person's zodiac sign in no way affects the way they base coverage and set rates. Allstate was inspired by the recent changes to the zodiac calendar and they used actual data based on the birthdays of customers and the amount of accidents they had been in.

They realized that their customers take their insurance expenses very seriously and either did not get the joke or did not appreciate it.