The Strange Allure of the Progressive Insurance Girl (The One You Mute)

Austin 360.com ^ | 10/20/2008 | Austin 360.com

[Dallas59]

"Flo"



Stephanie Courtney



She's bubbly and beaming, high-volume, with a flip of dark hair and a face like a lollipop. She irks as she endears, bemuses as she bewitches. She's a bundle of energetic contradictions, bursting here, retracting there. Her expressions blink and change like a neon sign. Her eyes are popping globes. And she just sold you a bunch of car insurance.

Flo is her name. She's the spokeswoman for Progressive Auto Insurance, lighting up televisions in a series of commercials in which her perky cashier pitches the money-saving merits of Progressive to customers. She works in a sterile, all-white big-box store, and her florid makeup stands out like paint spilled in snow.

First she caught our eye; now she's snatched our heart. Viewers are smitten. They're crushin'. They want to know: Who's that girl?

From a recent blog at HoustonPress.com, with the headline "The Cult of the Progressive Car Insurance Chick":

"Am I the only one completely and totally enamored of the woman in the television ads for Progressive car insurance? You know, the ones starring that babelicious brunette named Flo with her 'tricked-out name tag' and her '60s style eye makeup and her kissable red, red lips?"

No, sir, you are not. There's more where that mash-note came from, out there in the blogosphere's infinite confessional space: "She's hot." "She's weird but, God, she's fine!"

[onedoug]

Fifteen minutes....

[Greg123456]

Thanx for the video. I think it was pretty cool.

[Greg123456]

And I really hate that squeaky sound the money with the googley eyes makes.

[truth_seeker]

GEICO

Government
Employyes
Insurance
COmpanay (COop, COrporation,?)

[publana]

I change the channel as soon as I see the woman. Between “Flo” and the name “Progressive”, I will never purchase their insurance.

[giotto]

I have the ability to tune out all commercials, so I neither like nor dislike this character. The only thing that drives me up the wall is when a radio commercial repeats an 800 number over and over. And over. And over.

[wally_bert]

I couldn’t agree more.

[Beowulf9]

“Thanx for the video. I think it was pretty cool.”

Aaaaahhhhhhhh!