Should you get turkey insurance?
The latest odd insurance gimmick from Direct Line is the Turkey-mergency cover. The idea is that anyone who lives within a three mile radius of the insurer's south London kitchen can insure themselves against a turkey-related disaster. If their bird is anything less than perfect on Christmas Day, they can contact the insurer and get a replacement for free.
The policy will deliver a perfectly cooked turkey if yours is undercooked, dry, burnt, dropped, dog-savaged, bland or inedible. And while it cannot rush round a turkey in a matter of moments, it will do everything it can to get the bird to you before the day is ruined.
If you happen to be in the right area, you can register for the scheme on directlineturkeyfix.com (which needs to be done before the 23rd), and then on the day if you run into difficulties you will need to call them or tweet.
Is it any good?
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Having to live within three miles of Camberwell is clearly going to limit this policy's usefulness to the vast majority of people.
Even if you live nearby, Direct Line admits "Delivery time will be subject to variables on the day". They clearly can't rustle up a perfectly cooked turkey immediately in every situation, so you may well get a perfect turkey that arrives as you're clearing the table, or you'll have to let all the trimmings go cold or dry out in the oven while you wait (and the family complains).
In case there's any doubt that this is a publicity stunt, the company adds that when your turkey arrives, you will need to consent to being filmed.
Is it necessarily bad?
That said, just because it's a publicity stunt, it shouldn't stop you from signing up if you're eligible. Even if it fails to rescue Christmas dinner, you should get some decent leftovers out of it.
There have, after all, been some great publicity stunts that have proved a boon for those involved. There was the 'cuddle cafe' pop up in London back in November. It may have been a stunt run by a biscuit company, but it still involved sitting in a cafe drinking tea and eating biscuits for free.
Then there was the 'magic ATM' of 2014, that thanked bank customers, by handing out everything from a bunch of flowers to plane tickets and $1,000 cheques.
And let's not forget the WestJet stunt of 2013, which put up a 'virtual Santa' booth in the airport lounge for people on two flights to use to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. While they were in the air, staff rushed out and bought the items, so that when they waited at the luggage carousel on arrival, they were handed their ideal gifts.
Presents ranged from a huge TV to a toy train. Of course, they were merely being exploited for a tear-jerking viral video, but no doubt those who received the presents didn't mind a bit.
