You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
The Product:
Progressive insurance
The Promotion:
The Pitch:
We’ve got the most judgmental commercial mascot since the Quaker Oats guy was placed next to Count Chocula on the cereal shelves.
I’ve already done an Ad Space on this series of Progressive commercials where “Dr. Rick” attempts to “help” some “young homeowners” avoid the “horror” of “turning into their parents”. (Sadly, many of the videos linked in that earlier post are now unavailable.)
I ranted there about how these ads bug me, with how Dr. Rick admonishes people for doing perfectly harmless, even sensible things, for no other reason than that it’s (apparently) something your parents would do, and thus must be avoided. Bizarrely, Progressive did not listen to my criticism, and has continued to put out more and more of these ads.
I wasn’t planning to talk about them again – what more do I have to say that I didn’t say the first time? Then I saw this one, though, and … AAGH!!!
Like, I get how warning a stranger not to order the chicken marsala might be butting in – though that’d depend on why the warning’s being given. If it’s just a preference issue, then, sure, mind your own business. But if it’s something like “this restaurant undercooks its chicken – you’re taking a big risk here”, that’d be a genuine piece of neighborly kindness.
And trying to get the mysterious Jan’s attention at the coffee shop … okay, yeah, you’re stepping on the barista’s toes. Then again, if you haven’t ordered your own coffee yet, and you’re able to ascertain that Jan isn’t coming to pick up theirs … well, then you’ve got yourself a free coffee!
But those aren’t what pissed me off. No, that’d be the grocery store checkout bit.
Telling the checkout guy at the grocery store how to bag up your groceries is not “getting involved” – you’re already involved, those are your groceries. I see a grocer putting my loaf of bread at the bottom of the bag, while there are still some two-liter bottles of sodas left to go, you better believe I’m gonna step in and correct them! That’s not being a busybody, that’s refusing to let someone else wreck your stuff with their carelessness.
The moral of this ad seems to be that, if you initiate a conversation with a stranger in a public place, you are inherently a nuisance and an embarrassment. Doesn’t matter the context – better to stay silent and be thought a lamewad then to speak and possibly remove doubt.
Like, I’m a very introverted person, but even I’m not as afraid of social interaction as Dr. Rick wants their “patients” to be. I’m beginning to think this guy’s not a doctor at all.