Less than a week after the first Pokémon Go-related death in Japan, Thailand’s Asia Insurance launched the innovatively named (insert eye roll) PokéSurance, an online-only insurance product.
The company said the recent spate of injuries compelled it to launch the new product.
The PokéSurance offering includes options for mobile-phone screen insurance, personal accident insurance, car insurance and motorcycle insurance. And of course, there's an amusing promotional video.
According to the company:
With millions of people addicted to Pokémon Go, reports of injuries sustained while playing the game have also surfaced. Huge and dangerous stampedes are caused by trainers chasing down rare Pokémons all across the world. Injuries have come from accidents during walking, driving or even on a motorcycle.
Indeed. A Vice News video report recounted over 75 reports of violence, crime, and deaths since the game’s launch in July.
There have been reports of accidents and teenagers trespassing on a nuclear-power-plant property in Ohio.
US Reddit user Amalthea fell and broke her foot while playing the game. A bunch of players even stepped into a minefield in Bosnia.
Even relatively safe Singapore reported a vehicular accident soon after the app launched in the country.
“To meet the lifestyle needs of millennials, we view PokéSurance as our first and formal step into transforming our insurance business through technology, as a way to infiltrate a new group of people”, said Apinara Srikanchana, assistant managing director of business development, Asia Insurance.
