Saturday, April 23, 2016

Advertising For Dummies: Progressive's sentient Box is out of control (2016)

Progressive Insurance has had a good thing going for years with spokesbabe Flo (Stephanie Courtney). Unfortunately, not content to leave well enough alone, the ad agency working with Progressive decided that, like GEICO, Progressive needed a secondary ad campaign.

Enter The Box.

A sentient box, representing Progressive's "bundling" of insurance policies for customers, has been appearing in ads for a couple of years now. While Flo is being posited as managing a faux boy band that features real-life 90's pop star Joey Fatone (at last check serving as Steve Harvey's announcer on Family Feud), The Box (voiced by Saturday Night Live alumnus Chris Parnell) is getting more screen time than it really needs. I mean, really.

Personal note. In my day job, I work for an insurance agency, and one of the companies we represent is Progressive. While we've gotten some promo material from the company featuring Flo, we haven't yet gotten anything with the annoying Box. Just as well. I'd be looking to buy a dart board right about now....!

Anyway, in this ad, the Box wants to be a crooner. "Go Paperless (Don't Stress Girl)", in better hands, might do something for radio. Not here. We think.



Not sure if Parnell is trying to mimic the late Lou Rawls or someone else, but they could give him better stuff to do, too.

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