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:
Progressive is there for you … or at least for the lame-o oldster you’ll become.

A lot of commercials try to be funny. And a lot of humor is based around subverting expectations. When those two factors combine, occasionally you get commercials where the push to be funny leads to them subverting their own sales pitch.

One of the old axioms of advertising is that what you’re really selling is a lifestyle. You show people the kind of person they want to be, the kind of life they want to have, and then state (or at least insinuate) that your product is a key to making that a reality.

And this ad spits all over that in the name of comedy. Amy has a picture in their head of the lifestyle they want, having fun as a cool boat owner, but visions of Future Amy show that Present Amy won’t like the person they become in the process.

Granted, the ad doesn’t go so far as to make Future Amy a bad or unhappy person – just someone that Present Amy finds incredibly lame, and the thought of becoming that fills Amy with undisguised horror. Which kinda undermines the selling power of Future Amy choosing Progressive for all their Home & Auto needs.

The ad even mocks Progressive’s own formula for commercials, with Amy questioning why someone would just hang out with their insurance rep 24/7. Of course, that’s likely because Future Amy got stuck with Jamie, the loser of the Progressive spokesteam. If your future self becomes best buds and podcast partners with Jamie, that’s when you know it’s time to make a change.