Anyone who has read about word of mouth marketing has likely read this story: how an annoyed customer-cum-blogger took down a brand. Well, now a US Senator is doing the same to State Farm over failure to pay damages after Hurricane Katrina.

An excellent piece By Laurie Gindin Beacham, Communications Director & Joanne Doroshow, Executive Director, of the Center for Justice & Democracy discusses Lott's campaign against the insurance giant. I first heard about Lott's plight maybe six months ago on the radio- I cannot believe State Farm has not given in! Lott's not only using the power of the press, he's using his legislative authority. I'm not necessarily pro-trial lawyer, but at this point, the situation seems like a marketing snafu on State Farm's part.

Sometimes an issue doesn't hit home until one's home is hit. That appears to be the case for new Republican Senate Whip Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.). The Senator's Mississippi beachfront home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina last year, and he's been fighting with State Farm, his home insurance company, ever since. State Farm has refused to pay for damage to Lott's house, so Lott has joined legions of other Katrina victims who are in the same boat. He has sued his insurance company.

The fact that devastated Katrina victims have been forced to go to court against their insurance carriers may be surprising enough for many Americans. But the fact that their ranks have been joined by a conservative U.S. Senator, former Republican Senate leader and new Whip, and an outspoken critic of those who file lawsuits, is somewhat mind-boggling. Lott used to say derogatory things about those who go to court, like, "The Democrats seem to think that the answer is a lawsuit.
Sue everybody...," "It's sue, sue, sue ... That's not the answer," and "I'm among many Mississippi citizens who believe tort reform is needed."

But he has a different focus now. Now, Senator Lott has not only filed his own suit but also talks about "insensitivity and outright meanness"
of insurers, saying, "They have abused my people, my friends, the people I love."

U.S. Senator Trent Lott, it seems, may have seen the light.

First seen on The Agonist.