Progressive Insurance is surely longing for the days when the Internet's most pressing question about its spokeswoman Flo was whether she is hot or not.
     Matt Fisher's devastating Tumblr post about the death of his sister, a Progressive customer, in a car accident—and his claim, though the company denies it (UPDATE: which Fisher insists, once again, is true), that it defended her killer in court in an effort not to pay out the benefit on her policy—have left Flo completely out of her depth. It's true of any bright, bubbly mascot when its owner does something insidious. They suddenly look clownish and insipid. (Had Geico been the offending party, the gecko would be swiftly fed through the lizard grinder.) And it's worse with Flo, who was already seen by many, with her too-happy demeanor and plastic sheen, as somewhat creepy.
     Progressive understands Flo is now a liability, at least for now, though the company was way too slow to replace her avatar with the corporate logo on its main Twitter account—leaving Flo to smile maddeningly as she robo-spammed canned responses at people who had read Fisher's story and were horrified. (Flo hasn't said anything on her own Twitter page in several days. The actress who plays her, Stephanie Courtney, hasn't tweeted yet—and of course, this has nothing to do with her, anyway.) Over on Facebook, Flo is seen in the latest post thinking deep thoughts, under this status update: "Is it possible to have déjà vu of déjà vu?"—a note, posted before Fisher's, that now seems oblivious at best. (Her thought bubble says "#flowonders." Surprisingly, that hashtag has been hijacked by only a few people on Twitter.)
     Even random consumer-generated Flo content is getting savaged—like the photo above, titled "The Great Wall of Flo," posted by a fan to Progressive's Facebook page. The only comment in response: "With this many Flo's, you could be screwed out of your progressive policy payout TEN TIMES all at once!"
     In the end, Flo will survive—she's too big to fail. But don't expect her to utter a word about this. As Go Daddy would say, she's what's outside. The lawyers are what's inside.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the drunkest of them all?

Ogilvy Brazil is more determined than ever to stop you from driving drunk. The agency is actually something of an expert in this area. Its numerous on-site bar stunts in recent years have included everything from giving out wildly inflated bar tabs (in which the staggering financial costs of a drunk-driving accident are factored into the bill) to accosting people with the Drunk Valet, a sloshy reminder that no one—not a valet, and not you—should drive your car drunk.

This latest bar stunt, on behalf of insurance company Allianz—is interesting, too. The agency installed a special, magical mirror next to the bathrooms that presented a delayed reflection to the person looking into it. This mimicked the effect alcohol has on a person's reflexes after only a few drinks—as copy on the digital device explained after each person interacted with it. Presumably the images were extra delayed for people who were already drunk when they looked into the mirror—perhaps provoking, if not a crisis of conscience, at least a good bout of nausea, which could possibly preclude a stomach pumping later in the evening.

Who knows how effective this was in preventing drunk driving. At the very least, the thing undeniably looks like fun to play around with. And with these kinds of messages, engagement is half the battle. Cheers to Ogilvy for another fun trip to the pub.



CREDITS
Client: Allianz Insurance
Agency: OgilvyOne, São Paulo, Brazil
Chief Creative Officer: Anselmo Ramos
Executive Creative Director: Marcos Ribeiro
Creative Directors: Marcos Ribeiro, Alexandre Ravagnani
Art Directors: Fernando Passos, Rafael Gatuzzo
Copywriters: Flavio Tamashiro, Erich Moreira
Accounts: Felipe Obara, Andrea Tornovsky, Denise Caruso
Media: Luciana Serra, Larissa Dias
Planners: Luis Stateri, Marian Travassos, Cleber Almeida
Producers: Cecília Taioli, Adriana Jorge
Production Company: Santa Transmedia
Film Director: Gustavo Rodrigues
Sound Design: Sound Design

The lyrics to Eddie Money's 1977 song "Two Tickets to Paradise" sound a lot like a promo for a Club Med sweepstakes. But it's car-insurance brand Geico that dug up the croon-rocker to star in a new spot, part of a cheeky campaign from The Martin Agency meant to illustrate just how gleeful its rates will make you.

The premise: Money would be happiest running a travel agency, where he could, you know, constantly give out tickets to paradise. You could be even happier than that, thanks to the extra money you'll save by switching to Geico car insurance. The reality: Money nails the washed-up bit perhaps too well, with a crazy-eyed, hoarse-voiced performance that stage-whispers buried sadness as much as it screams joy. Strip away the hey-remember-that-guy joke, and it's just a clever one-liner. Money's character in the ad doesn't really want to be a travel agent. He wants you to sit down and shut up while he sings about taking you (or maybe just his hair) on a romantic island getaway.

Earlier spots in the series do a better job of hitting the right tenor. A bodybuilder wears an unimpeachable grin (and not much else) while directing traffic—a funny and insightful visual gag—and old-timey comedian Gallagher gets credibly giddy while doing his trademark watermelon-smashing thing at a farmer's market. A fourth spot goes a more fantastical route, with an amusing but not quite laugh-out-loud scene imagining Christopher Columbus's cackling reaction to modern nautical technology.

That, along with the other spots, honors Geico's longtime and hard-to-contest position that people like saving money—and quirky, chuckle-worthy ads.









CREDITS
Client: Geico
Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.

Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer is known for its amusing TV ads, and its latest, from DDB Amsterdam, more than measures up. It features a doofus in a red Speedo—containing quivering butt cheeks—who tries to impress his date on a speedboat trip with all sorts of fancy driving. Needless to say, it doesn't turn out well. Great use of the Love Boat theme. The spot, which has a nice unexpected ending, carries the longtime tagline "Just call Apeldoorn," which is the Dutch city where Centraal Beheer is based.

Remember six weeks ago, when people were calling for Flo's pale, peppy head on a platter after Progressive supposedly defended a customer's killer in court? Well, we knew Flo was too big to fail—and indeed she was. Stephanie Courtney's character is still on the air, and now she's fronting the kind of new initiative that's perfect for a brand trying to heal from a social-media flogging—a charity project. Progressive is teaming up with designer Candice Held to raise money for Dress for Success, a nonprofit that provides job-interview attire for women who can't afford it. Between now and Oct. 4, you can bid on a one-of-a-kind Candice Held dress that Flo wore in "red carpet" magazine ads earlier this year. It is quite the dress—it's a souped-up version of the plain store outfit Flo wears in her TV spots. And by souped up, we're talking 1,000 hand-placed crystals on the train. Bidding began at $200 and is already over $3,000. The "I ♥ Insurance" purse, arguably the even more awesome item, is not part of the package. "We chose Candice for this project because she's a top-notch designer, and we knew she'd do a great job turning Flo's everyday Superstore outfit into an elegant gown," says Progressive marketing director Miriam Deitcher. "It's a great dress and we'd love to keep it, but we're happy we can use it to raise money for a good cause." Likewise, Flo is a great spokesperson, and they'd clearly like to keep her, too.

Lots of insurance policies promise protection from unexpected mayhem. Only DBS in Singapore claims to cover cars sliced in half by lightsabers. And to advertise that promise, Tribal DDB put together quite the eye-catching display: an actual car cut in half and lying in a parking spot. A QR code on the car led curious passersby to the video below, showing a couple of dudes horsing around with lightsabers and precipitating the accident. The footage appears to have been captured by an in-camera, which is part of the ad's offer: Those who sign up for DBS insurance by the end of the year will get a free in-car camera worth $129. The advertiser is promising two more stunts in the coming weeks. Hopefully one of them will show a car waiting snug inside a Tauntaun for a tow truck after breaking down. Credits after the jump.

CREDITS
Client: DBS
Creative Agency: Tribal DDB Singapore
Media Agency: MPG Singapore
Chief Creative Officer: Neil Johnson
Creative Director: Thomas Yang, Francis Ooi
Art Director: Benson Toh
Copywriter: Theresa Ong
Photography: Allan Ng
Producer: Michelle Tan
Accounts Team: Anthony Wan, Joshua Lee, Jasmine Ng
Production Company: CRITICA
Additional credits: Ng Kok Jong, Ellyna Rahim, Pierce Sim, Ng Hwei Yun, Edwyna Yeo

Last night, a long list of legendary musicians got together at Madison Square Garden to raise funds for Hurricane Sandy relief. The median age of the artists—a group that included such icons as Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, The Who and The Rolling Stones—was approximately 75. So, it was a welcome departure from the evening's geriatrics when State Farm reminded us about another important demographic affected by the superstorm: children.

In a spot from DDB Chicago and director Joe Pytka titled "State of Hope," State Farm interviews a classroom full of kids whose lives have been shaken by Sandy's devastation. But it's not the weeks without power and heat, the flooding or the damage to their homes that they're concerned with. It's the seaside amusement parks.

"I liked eating the cotton candy and licking my fingers," recalls one of the children, who could be out of the classroom scene in Annie Hall."The roller coaster was as big as the Empire State Building," adds a student with questionable depth perception. "My brother threw up," reports another. But thanks to Sandy, those days are over, the beaches eroded, the boardwalks broken, the roller coaster in Seaside Heights swept into the ocean.

But these resilient kids are already looking ahead, imagining a future with a new, bigger, better roller coaster. One with lots of loops. And maybe even a stronger foundation that can survive the apocalyptic weather we're stuck with for the remainder of our time on Earth. Because, in the wise words of State Farm, "Hope can never be washed away."



CREDITS
Client: State Farm
Agency: DDB Chicago
Director: Joe Pytka

Maxwell the talking pig returns in an amusingly twisted tale (tail?) from The Martin Agency and Geico. The oinker uses the company's smartphone app to pay his insurance bill while he travels on an airplane. When you're a pig, leg room is not a major issue. He stretches full out, and his feet don't come close to touching the floor. Mmmm ... pig's feet. The flight attendants are kind of rude to Maxwell, just as they are to humans in real life. Kidding, of course. They're always extremely professional and courteous. (In a pig's eye!) The swine is more subdued in this spot, refraining from his signature, hyper-annoying "Wee wee wee!" Perhaps he saved that for the lavatory.

Allstate finds itself weathering a storm of bad publicity owing to a recent commercial that showed its "agents of good" rushing in to provide assistance in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. The spot showed the partially ruined Staten Island home of Sheila and Dominic Traina. But the Trainas, who claim that wind caused much of the damage, say the insurer's $10,000 payout is inadequate. They weren't covered for flooding, which Allstate says was the prime culprit in wrecking the couple's home of 43 years. The Trainas have hired a lawyer to help them get more money from the insurance company. "The commercial said how caring their agents are," says Sheila Traina. "But they are not caring at all." Allstate counters that it is "in contact with this customer and continues to work with them regarding their claim." The TV spot, the company adds, was made "in accordance with all applicable advertising laws." Phew, we can relax about that now. Of course, this type of controversy is nothing new. It just underscores the fundamental disconnect between the ad-driven idealized representation of a brand and how said brand behaves, or is perceived to behave, in real life. In terms of spin, this is a fight AllState can't win. You don't need a show of hands to judge how unpopular insurance firms are, even before these kinds of situations arise. So far, the company hasn't further tarnished its image via communications blunders, as Progressive arguably did last summer during its own media crisis. While predictably tepid, Allstate's response is probably the safest policy. Hopefully a deal with the Trainas can be worked out. Via Gothamist.

UPDATE: Leo Burnett in Chicago, which created the spot, declined to comment.

This week, cigarettes get tumorous and even more disgusting in a new PSA, Cookie Monster quickly breaks his New Year's resolution and Apple's timing is off in its promotion of the iPhone's Do Not Disturb feature.

Many of the hundreds of TV commercials that air each day are just blips on the radar, having little impact on the psyche of the American consumer, who is constantly bombarded by advertising messages.

These aren't those commercials.

Adweek and AdFreak have brought together the most innovative and well-executed spots of the week—commercials that will make you laugh, smile, cry, think and maybe buy.

Video Gallery: Top 10 Commercials of the Week

IDEA: Two and a half years after it was born, Allstate's "Mayhem" campaign is now going into labor. As mayhem personified, Dean Winters has played dozens of mischievous roles, representing unexpected dangers from which Allstate protects you. In this latest spot, he's a frantic woman about to give birth in a speeding car as her husband races to the hospital.

Creative directors Britt Nolan and Mikal Pittman were thrilled when copywriter Brooke Anderson and art director Greg Nobles brought them the concept—and almost shocked they'd never considered it. "We're always looking for 'Mayhem' to embody the most true vulnerabilities in the world," said Nolan. "With this idea, I said, 'I don't even care what the script is like. We're doing that.' "

COPYWRITING: Winters is in the car's backseat, legs in the air. "I'm having a contraction!" he screams—twice—at the husband, who is weaving through traffic. Then he says, calmly, to the camera: "We're in labor. The book says we should stay calm. But this is our first kid, and we've chosen to panic." "Gun it!" he shouts at the husband. To the camera, slyly: "For the baby." Husband barrels through an intersection, causing two other cars to collide. "Outta Mommy's way!" Winters shouts. Then, calm again: "So, get an Allstate agent and be better protected from mayhem like me." He then pops a water balloon—seems his water has broken.

The script ended up getting pared back as the balloon visual precluded more dialogue. The spots often have a core laugh line—here, it's "Outta Mommy's way!" "We find ourselves falling in love with a repeatable line, but we avoid stating that as a formula," said Nolan. "When we brief it that way, it's limiting. Sometimes a great spot can be more visual."

TALENT: Winters improvises during the shoots, but more with his physicality than his dialogue. "He's not ad-libbing in the moment, but he's definitely open to new lines being thrown at him. Or he might have an idea for something that's better than what we've written," Nolan said. A great physical comedian, Winters often throws in unexpected movements that give a spot the extra kick it needs.

He also, crucially, plays funny and menacing equally well. "We wanted someone who wasn't going to read comedy at first glance, so people could get to know the campaign and maybe like it more the more they saw it, instead of being broad comedy that wears out and gets old," said Nolan. He's played a lot of bad-boy characters, like on Oz and Rescue Me. And he was so funny on 30 Rock. Nobody had used him in a role that combined the dry humor with the bad-boy thing. We brought him in for a read, and he was really dead on. And he's come to really take ownership of the character. At this point he's really in tune and cares a lot about what the character would and wouldn't do, how he would and wouldn't behave. "

Wardrobe and makeup round him out. He has worn the same black suit in every spot, which is then accessorized. (In this one, he simply has a pillow with him.) He also always has little cuts and bruises—applied each time by the same makeup person. "We give him different types of contusions and abrasions, without going too far," said Pittman. "But you should write that we actually beat him up," said Nolan. "We kick his ass the night before."

ART DIRECTION/FILMING: Mike Maguire, new to the campaign, filmed "Labor" in a single day in Vancouver. (The agency has also shot in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Calgary, and has used two other directors, Phil Morrison and Romain Gavras. The campaign is up to about 45 spots in total now.) Visually, the goal is realism. "If we overdramatized the danger, it would feel like we're trying to scare people," said Pittman. "'Mayhem' is just trying to remind you of the realities."

This extends to the color grade and effects. Everything should be as neutral and practical as possible to embody the honesty and trust that's so key in insurance ads.

SOUND: The same brief music track closes out all the spots. More important is sound design, which often paces them. In that regard, the new spot is almost like labor itself, said Pittman. "It goes through some contractions, which then subside," he said. "There's moments of calm and moments of intensity. The sound design helps that."

MEDIA: "Labor" broke on the Sugar Bowl and is running on national broadcast and cable, and online.

THE SPOT:

CREDITS:
Client: Allstate
Campaign: "Mayhem"
Spot: "Labor"
Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago
CCO: Susan Credle
ECD: Charley Wickman
CDs: Britt Nolan, Mikal Pittman
CW: Brooke Anderson
AD: Greg Nobles
Agency Producer: Bryan Litman
Production Company: The Directors Bureau
Director: Mike Maguire
Editing Company: The Whitehouse
Editor: Matthew Wood
Sound Studio: Another Country
Sound Designer: John Binder
Visual Effects: Mass Market
Colorist: Billy Gabor/Company 3
Account: Jason Georgen

The Burnett creatives pointed to two other Mayhem spots that are among their favorites: "Blind Spot" and "GPS." Those are two that we hold up as the standard of truth for this campaign—something anybody can relate to," said Nolan. Those spots are posted here:

This week, Starbucks shows some love for the most hated day of the week, Dean Winters brings more mayhem for Allstate, and Internet Explorer—like many of us—is nostalgic for the '90s.

Many of the hundreds of TV commercials that air each day are just blips on the radar, having little impact on the psyche of the American consumer, who is constantly bombarded by advertising messages.

These aren't those commercials.

Adweek and AdFreak have brought together the most innovative and well-executed spots of the week—commercials that will make you laugh, smile, cry, think and maybe buy.

Video Gallery: Top 10 Commercials of the Week

In the beginning, there was Mayhem. Actually, Leo Burnett's latest spot for Allstate, starring Dean Winters as the iconic agent of chaos, will air at the end of the Super Bowl—between the game's final play and the trophy presentation. The vignette does, however, open in the Garden of Eden, with Winters kickin' back in the tree of knowledge and informing us, "I'm a forbidden fruit." Thanks for sharing. He then embarks on a trip through time, causing all manner of historical disasters, large (the extinction of the dinosaurs) and small (the NFL referees on strike), that Allstate probably wouldn't cover. There's a cute bit early on, where a lion suddenly puts the bite on a lamb after the pair had been sitting together peacefully in paradise. Ha ha—stupid lamb! And observe how mysterious mists obscure Adam and Eve's genitals from view. (Probably itchy, though.) The spot's visually rich, and Winters, as always, is fun to watch. Mixing saurians and Biblical stories seems odd. Besides, the most unholy, heart-rending, soul-crushing disaster of all—the Patriots elimination by the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game—isn't even mentioned. Where's the insurance that covers my tears!?

He's renowned for his 30-second bites of wisdom. Now, Geico's gecko is getting ready to expand upon his reptilian thoughts about the human condition in a new book, You're Only Human, co-written by The Martin Agency and coming in April from Workman Publishing. From the publisher's site:

You know him and love him as one of the most famous characters on television, that humble, hardworking spokeslizard with the fetching accent. Turns out there's so much more to him. He's a philosopher, an aphorist, a humorist, an artist, a warm companion, a natural storyteller—and, in a grand tradition, a keenly observant and wise outsider who in the course of living and traveling among us has discovered quite a lot about the things that make us human. Figuratively speaking, of course. You're Only Human is his brilliant take on people, written and illustrated with considerable charm.

He makes curious and interesting observations on everything from dreams to job interviews to adversity, Twitter to the Golden Rule (it's not what you think it is) to talking animals: I'm really not sure what all the fuss is about. Lots of animals talk, including humans. The bigger question is, What do you have to say worth listening to?

Martin's Dean Jarrett tells AdFreak that Workman approached the Richmond, Va., agency with the idea, and the agency and client soon fell in love with it. "The gecko probably hasn't really been able to say all he could say in 30-second TV commercials, so what else would he say?" Jarrett says. "It will be funny thoughts about life from the gecko, all in his great tone that we've come to know and love. We hope people will find it charming and funny and connect with it. And we hope to sell a couple gazillion of them."

Maxwell the Geico spokespig gets rolled by the 5-0 in this ad by The Martin Agency for the company's new digital insurance ID cards. Call me paranoid, but I would never just hand my smartphone to a cop—especially if, like Maxwell, I were already paranoid enough to assume the cop was profiling me due to species-ism. That pig might be able to drive a car, but clearly he has a lot to learn about being a responsible motorist. (How do his hooves reach the pedals?) Also, not to pig-pile on here, but the trooper's baffled reaction to the digital ID probably isn't the reaction users will be hoping for. Bonus points, however, for the #PulledPork hashtag. More recent Maxwell goodness after the jump.

Hey, the Pillsbury Doughboy appears in The Martin Agency's latest "Happier Than … " commercial for Geico. I thought he'd done so a while back, but it turns out that was Eddie Money. Eddie's tunes are so poppin' fresh. In the new spot, the Doughboy giggles his way through an airport security check, illustrating that people who save money by switching to Geico are "Happier than the Pillsbury Doughboy on his way to a baking convention." It's a better commercial crossover than most—less strained, for example, than Mr. Clean and the Target bull's-eye pooch shilling for Xerox. Too bad Geico's gecko wasn't on hand to fight Doughboy to the death to determine which ad mascot is best. I guess that's something I'll only enjoy in dreams. Go on, smack him, gecko … bite his doughy ass!

CREDITS
Client: Geico
Spot: "Doughboy"

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer Joe Alexander
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
Vice Presicent, Creative Director: Wade Alger
Senior Vice President, Art Director, Creative Director: Sean Riley
Senior Copywriter: Ken Marcus
Vice President, Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter
Agency Producer: Samantha Tucker
Agency Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Strategic Planner: Melissa Cabral
Account Team: Chris Mumford, Brad Higdon, Parker Collins, Carter Crenshaw, Susan Karns

Group Talent Director: Suzanne Wieringo
Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Director of Photography: Tim Ives
Executive Producer, Managing Partner: Kevin Byrne
Producer: Nate Young
Production Supervisor: Steve Ruggieri

Editorial Company: Makenzie Cutler
Editor: Ian MacKenzie
Editor: Dave Koza
Assistant Editor: Carmen Hu
Editorial Producer: Evan Meeker
Director of Operations: Biz Lunskey

Visual Effects: The Mill
Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris
Producer: Colin Blaney
Shoot Supervisor: Tony Robins
2-D Lead Artist: Randy McEntee
2-D Artists: Tony Robins, Paul Downes, Jamin Clutcher
Art Support: Rob Meade
3-D Lead Artist: Kevin Ives
3-D Artists: Billy Dangyoon Jang, Olivier Varteressian, Laurent Giaume, Justin Diamond, Sean Dooley, Joshua Merck, Hassan Taimur, Wyatt Savarese, Samuel Crees, Ross Scroble
Matte Painter: Can Y. Sanalan
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Doughboy Animation: Topix
Creative Director: Steven Hollman
Senior Producer: Christina Lord

Audio Post, Sound Design: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus
Music: "Happier Than" theme song by Adam Schlesinger

Flo broke Michael Buffer's spleen.

At least, that's the punch line in Progressive Insurance's newest—and 89th—TV commercial featuring its characteristically peppy spokeswoman, Flo. Launched Monday, the ad is also the first in the Flo series to incorporate a live celebrity (of sorts). In the spot, Buffer, the boxing announcer, performs an insurance-themed version on his famously-drawn out slogan, "Let's get ready to rumble." 

The twist: "Let's get ready to bundle."

Bundling is the practice of buying both auto and home coverage from the same provider. Insurers say such package deals save consumers money, though some consumer advocates contend that's not always the case. 

It's a familiar point of focus for Progressive's advertising, which has in the past relied on off-beat concepts like combining a cat and a rocket ship to sell consumers on its bundled offering. 

Now, the company's executives hope the emphasis Buffer's bit places on the word "bundle" itself will help it capture a greater share of the bundling market. "It's a pretty big category," said Jeff Charney, Progressive's chief marketing officer. "If you want to own the category, you have to own the catchphrase."  

"[Buffer is] one of these guys that people like to have a little bit of fun with," added Charney. "And we're having fun with him the way the consumer would like to have fun with him."

Charney also hopes the length of the word will grab listeners' attention, even if they're not in the same room as the TV when the ad runs. "'Let's get ready to bundle,' for that many seconds—you hear that, if you are in the kitchen doing something, this will stop you."

In addition to the new ad, the insurer has four more spots in development around Flo, who it plans to keep using indefinitely. Created by Progressive's lead creative agency, Arnold Worldwide, Flo was first introduced in 2008. In 2010, the brand expanded its cast of characters with a male counterpart, "The Messenger," and last year Flo weathered a social media firestorm around the company's handling of a claim in which the policyholder was killed.

The idea going forward, Charney said, is to treat Flo's campaign like a sitcom, continuing to develop the character—and possibly inviting other celebrities to meet her. (In addition to Buffer, one previous ad in the series featured Sonic the Hedgehog, and a recent spot saw the brand's anthropomorphized product, a cartoon of a talking box, voiced by Saturday Night Live alum Chris Parnell.)

"She's at the top of her game right now, [and] we want to keep her at the top of the game," he explained. "If you have this philosophy that we have—almost like a network philosophy—as long as she continues to be relevant, she can run a long time. And that's our intent."

Progressive takes a swipe at "rate suckers" in this odd spot depicting bad drivers who cause price increases for everyone else as zombies who leap onto your car and suck on its surfaces with their gaping mouths. They hang on tenaciously in traffic, and continue sucking even after the driver stops and chats with a pitchlady (not Flo) about Progressive's Snapshot travel monitoring device (which, FYI, has raised some privacy concerns among consumer groups). The suck-action, for lack of a better term, is damn disconcerting, and such a distraction that it detracts from the overall message. Stop drooling on the hood, you freaks! It's strange there's no Flo. She's sucked for years.

If you're a postpubescent North American male and reading these words right now, there’s a good chance that you shaved your whiskers off this morning. Chances are, too, that you’ve heard some of the traditional reasons why you bothered: that most women prefer it, that most employers prefer it, that it makes a guy look younger. And in case these aren’t good enough reasons to pick up a razor, consider the study that found a defendant accused of a felony was more likely to be convicted by a jury if he wore a beard. Things weren’t always this way, of course. For much of the 19th century, society regarded beards as signifiers of authority and success. But Gillette’s introduction of the disposable razor in 1906 not only made shaving easier, but it also made it socially preferable. By 1947, only one in 10 guys still had beards. Today, that statistic still pretty much holds.

That the morning shave has since become a fixture in men’s lives goes without saying. But as the ads here show, that male ritual has also become a cornerstone of advertising, too—even for brands that have nothing whatsoever to do with the act of shaving. From Carnation condensed milk in 1942 to New York Life insurance today, brands have long co-opted the familiar image of a guy applying a glinting steel razor to his chin. What’s up with that?

“What this kind of advertising did was establish shaving as a modern rite—a signifier of manliness and paternalism,” said Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media, culture and communication at New York University. By associating a product with a culturally sanctioned act, Miller said, “these ads are trying to elevate their brands.”

And they’re not alone. For decades, advertisers have transformed shaving from simple hygienic ritual to a veritable proclamation of everything that’s wholesome and good about America. A 1936 ad for Lifebuoy showed a guy getting a promotion after shaving. Throughout the 1940s, Barbarsol ads portrayed clean-shaven men pursued and kissed by beautiful women. And in 1981, an ad for BVD gave us “The Great American Male,” a dude wearing briefs and a cowboy hat—and shaving. Norman Rockwell might be best known for his 1943 painting of grandma putting the Thanksgiving turkey on the table, but in 1919, he painted a young man sitting on a barrel and having his first shave.

Little wonder, then, that marketers have devised so many variations of the (lathered) man in the mirror in hopes of triggering associations of strength, cleanliness and responsibility. “All advertisers want to insert their products into the heart of our culture and our family lives,” Miller added. “It’s a way to naturalize the product.”

So it is. And just in case the viewer doesn’t get it, both of these advertisers have added the ideal prop for the man who’s having a shave: a kid gazing up in admiration.

Here is Geico's latest commercial from The Martin Agency. Uploaded on hump day, it's all about hump day. And it stars a certain mammal that hails from the Middle East and Africa. You can see where this is going. Part of the insurance company's ongoing "Happier Than" campaign. Silliness at its best. Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Geico

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
Creative Director: Wade Alger
Creative Director, Art Director: Sean Riley
Senior Copywriter: Ken Marcus
Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter
Producer: Samantha Tucker
Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Strategic Planner: Melissa Cabral
Group Account Director: Chris Mumford
Account Director: Liz Toms
Account Supervisor Parker Collins
Account Coordinator: Carter Crenshaw
Project Manager: Susan Karns

Group Talent Director: Suzanne Wieringo
Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Director of Photography: Tim Ives
Executive Producer, Managing Partner: Kevin Byrne
Producer: Nate Young
Production Supervisor: Steve Ruggieri

Editorial Company: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Ian MacKenzie
Editor: Dave Koza
Assistant Editor: Carmen Hu
Editorial Producer: Evan Meeker
Director of Operations: Biz Lunskey

Visual Effects: The Mill
Executive Producer: Jo Arghiris
Producer: Colin Blaney
Shoot Supervisor: Tony Robins
2-D Lead Artist: Randy McEntee
2-D Artists: Tony Robins, Paul Downes, Jamin Clutcher
Art Support: Rob Meade
3-D Lead Artist: Kevin Ives
3-D Artists: Billy Dangyoon Jang, Olivier Varteressian, Laurent Giaume, Justin Diamond, Sean Dooley, Joshua Merck, Hassan Taimur, Wyatt Savarese, Samuel Crees, Ross Scroble

Audio Post, Sound Design: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus
Music: "Happier Than" theme song by Adam Schlesinger

Principal Actors in Spot:
"Ronny" - Alex Harvey
"Jimmy" - Timothy Cole
Musical Duo in all spots

"Hump Day"
"Mike" - Michael Clark
"Julie" - Lindsay Stoddart
"Leslie" - Leslie Tsina
"Camel VO" - Chris Sulivan
Voiceover announcer: Andrew Anthony