Toe in the Water

I Blame Flo

I Blame Flo

For several days, I’ve been thinking about writing a blog post about insurance company commercials. At first glance, it may seem a subject so lacking in interest that it would be blog suicide to write of it. But there’s more to it than meets the eye.

I know this because I’ve written about the subject before. A few years ago I wrote a piece about the Geico gecko and it proved one of the most popular things I’ve ever done. It would be foolish to think that the more general overview I’m currently considering would be as successful, but it may be that there’s enough interest around to make the thing worthwhile.

My point is that there has been a quiet, slow-motion, cold war going on in insurance advertising for many years. I blame this partly on the Geico gecko but, more importantly, on Flo. Geico’s gecko quickly became an advertising icon after his introduction in the year 2000 and we can blame Liberty Mutual’s Limu Emu on him. Not that the emu is serious competition to the gecko - lacking a voice is too great a handicap.

But it’s Flo that has spawned a population explosion in the field of would-be lovable characters trying to sell us insurance. Her services as Progressive Insurance’s mascot has forced other companies to search for similar characters. Insurance advertising has become the battlefield where quirky and cute characters fight for attention. Even Progressive has made attempts to find other characters who could replace Flo if she ever decides to quit.

Thus far, Flo still reigns supreme. But the others are getting closer. The unlikely Jake from State Farm Insurance has grown steadily in appeal and is now a serious contender. His attempts at humour get better while Flo seems to be running out of ideas and has to rely more on her sidekicks these days.

Then there’s Aflac’s duck, an entrant from the animal persuasion side of things, but it’s never going to give the gecko sleepless nights. And Doug from Liberty Mutual is too limited by his dependence on an emu for a colleague.

Allstate’s Mayhem is an interesting entrant but he may be a bit too sinister to achieve the required popularity.

And then there’s Farmers Insurance. I’ll be honest and admit that this one is my favourite. Their icon, an excellent character actor by the name of J.K. Simmons, is part of the reason. He exudes calm, confidence and authority in the face of disaster - which makes him the perfect insurance adviser, of course. But the real clincher that makes the advert enjoyable and fun is the jingle that always ends the ad. I defy anyone who has seen these ads not to follow the words, “We are Farmers,” with the inevitable pompa dom dom, pom pom pom! It’s old school, amusing and irresistible. Any commercial that draws the audience into repeating its ditty is bound to be effective. Best of all, the ads are short. Most of the others ruin their chances by being too long.

I don’t have access to any statistics on the success or otherwise of these various ads, so I’m only giving a personal opinion on them. It would surprise me greatly if Farmers’ were to appear as front runner because its commercials are so much more low key and non-intrusive than the others. But that’s actually what I like about them.


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