Flo From Progressive Has Insured Her Place In My Heart

She looks crazy...crazy adorable

As soon as I was asked what my favorite ad campaign at the moment was, there was only one bright eyed, red lipstick wearing lady that immediately came to my mind.  That lady is Progressive's finest insurance saleswoman known only as "Flo".

So, why do I love her so much?  I've mulled it over on several different occasions, and I always come up with the same reason first.  For me, that first reason for liking her that comes to mind is that Flo looks and acts like my sister-in-law, Rochelle.  When I say acts like, I mean when Flo says something funny, quirky, or weird, it is usually not hard imagining Rochelle saying something very similar.  I would consider Rochelle to be my best friend, hell, most of the time I drop the "in-law" part of "sister-in-law" when introducing her to others.  So when I see Flo, I am reminded of Rochelle, and in that way this ad campaign will always, first and foremost, be able to play off of my familiarity with that character.

As for the general public, I think the formula as to why it works breaks down into two simple reasons.  The first reason is the fact that, YES, to most of us, Flo is very funny, adorably quirky, and maybe sometimes a little bit weird.  These few simple character aspects actually prove to be successful in a couple of different ways.  The fact that this character is funny and quirky immediately catches the audience's attention as well as making the commercial more entertaining.  Also, these character traits make the character more relatable and therefore more trustworthy.  Finally, when the company sends out a commercial that is funny, it sends out the message that the company must also, obviously, have a sense of humor and everyone loves a good sense of humor, right?

Another reason why these commercials work so well is that along with Flo being portrayed as funny, quirky, weird, and charismatic, she is also frequently depicted in the commercials as being friendly and loyal to each customer individually.  Meanwhile, the "other" insurance company guys cannot even remember those customer's names.

Now, in "real" life, Flo is portrayed by actress Stephanie Courtney, who has done other stints on T.V. in shows like Mad Men and in movies such as The Heartbreak Kid starring Ben Stiller.  However, the commercials are done so well, and the actress' performance is so good, that it doesn't matter that I know who it is, my first thought when I see these commercials is never "Oh there's good ole Stephanie Courtney" but usually "Damnit, Flo, stop being so adorable".

(This makes me sound like I am in love with Flo, but I am not in love with Flo........maybe a little.)