Bald Men Do Not Buy Combs

Travelling through London Victoria station last night I couldn’t help but notice a poster advertisement for a company called Hiscox Insurance (never heard of them either!). It read, “There is a reason why bald men do not buy combs”. I thought it was quite funny but I didn't understand it at the time. I tucked it away in my mind and unpacked it slowly on the way home.

A little research revealed the concept behind the poster. Hiscox Insurance sells insurance products to small businesses. It is not uncommon for small businesses and individuals to purchase insurance products which include coverage for things that they may never use or need. For example, you wouldn't need insurance for earthquakes if you don’t live in a part of the world where such natural disasters happen.
However, many insurance products offered by the large corporates tend to wrap up more areas than may actually be needed by small businesses. Enter Hiscox Insurance!! Their niche in the market is to provide small businesses with cheaper and tailored insurance products. In simple terms, the insurance products sold to ‘MTN Nigeria Plc’ should be different from products sold to ‘Osareme Ugbodaga and Sons Limited’.

I find that in life, we often carry around baggage that we (knowingly and unknowingly) pick up from friends, family, work, play, relationships. With time, this could potentially become both emotionally (and financially) expensive and draining. In simple terms, pick up only what you need to carry and leave the rest. In the George Clooney movie ‘Up in the Air’ (2009), he uses a similar analogy when he gives the lecture titled "What's In Your Backpack?" where he extols the virtues of a life free of burdensome relationships with people as well as things.

As we progress in 2011, I think we could all do with less baggage in our lives. You don’t have to be going physically bald (like me unfortunately) before you realise that you don’t need to buy a comb.