Progressive Girl vs. Verizon Guy
Tuesday
Aug 25, 2009
I’ll be honest…I’m not too crazy about either of them (as characters). But if I had to choose one, I think the Verizon guy wins hands down. Not that he is so incredibly entertaining, but mainly because the Progressive girl is so creepy.
What was Verizon thinking when they decided to introduce this “Flo” character as their company mascot? “Flo” is played by Stephanie Courtney, an actress and stand up comedian. She kind of reminds me of someone from the 60′s with her hair-do. And, I can’t even describe her using a single word. Pale. Creepy. Weird. Who was Progressive trying to target with these ads? I’m not sure what their motive is, but its obvious that “Flo” is supposed to invoke some weird psychological effect as people watch the commercials. Progressive, do us a favor and can it.
The Verizon guy isn’t really annoying, but we all hate him because he has the best job in the world. In the beginning, he played bigger roles where he actually used to say stuff like “Can you hear me now.” Now, all he does is stand in front of a huge crowd of Verizon “employees” and gets paid big bucks for it. The “Test Man” character seems to give off a ”nerdy”, “techy” feel. I think the character appeals to the masses, and I assume it’s worked for Verizon or they would’ve pulled the plug a long time ago. The Verizon “Test Man” is played by Paul Marcarelli, an actor with tons of other gigs under his belt. My feelings are neutral on this one – keep him or dump him.
What are your thoughts on these characters?
Comments
Apocalypzia
December 9th, 2009 at 1:59 am
We were put off at first by Flo but have to admit that we’ve grown rather fond of her in an Alice-Doesn’t-Live-Here-Anymore kind of way. We can almost imagine Polly Holliday, the “real” Flo, walking up behind her, telling a prospective Progressive customer to “Kiss my grits!”
As for the Verizon Guy, fame and fewer lines have made him a bit smug and pompous.
So our vote is for Flo, though at our blog where we track commercial spokespersons, the Glade Lady is the hands down winner.
admin
December 9th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
In my opinion, any character can become likeable if the commercials are shown enough over time. The characters start getting engraved into peoples’ minds and eventually they get used to them, even if they seem weird at first. It’s all psychological branding.