Gay Advertisement #18: Progressive Insurance

2010 GLAAD Media Awards In Advertising Nominee

Progressive Insurance has been nominated in the Outstanding Print Campaign – LGBT Market category for its “Works in Progress” campaign, which features historical works of art featuring gay couples.  For more on this campaign, read the article I wrote for the June/July issue of Echelon Magazine (page 24).

Gay Advertisement #10: Is This Progressive Insurance Commercial Gay?

Progressive Insurance has aired this commercial as part of its robust television ad platform featuring Flo the cashier on a variety of mainstream networks.  I recently saw the commercial while watching television with a friend and commented on how progressive (pun intended) the insurance company is with their ad campaigns by featuring a gay couple.  My straight friend retorted flatly, “They’re not gay.  What about them says they’re gay?  They’re just two friends.”

With this ad, Progressive has used a technique first identified by journalist Michael Wilke in Ad Age in 1997 called “gay vague.”  The ad appeals to gay consumers by featuring a couple who, to homosexuals like myself, appear to be gay.  However, the reference is vague enough that it doesn’t turn off the company’s heterosexual customers.

As it turns out, Progressive didn’t intend for the commercial to be gay at all.  In case you missed my article in Echelon magazine this week (pages 24 & 25), I reviewed Progressive’s new Faces of Pride campaign.  That article was written based on Echelon editor-in-chief Michael Lamb’s notes from an interview with Progressive Advertising Director Miriam Deitcher.  When asked about the commercial, Deitcher replied, “We got feedback from people who think the characters are gay.  We understand that. We were just trying to set up two friends; one has to sell a watch because he was low on money. We were comfortable with the way it turned out.”

Echelon Showcases Progressive’s Gay-Targeted Ad Campaign

The latest edition of Echelon magazine has been released, in which you can read an article written by yours truly on Progressive Insurance’s award-winning GLBT-targeted ad campaign.  You can access the magazine here (the Progressive article is on pages 24 and 25).

Echelon is an online gay magazine that publishes articles on GLBT finance, economic development, workplace advocacy, corporate diversity, education, employment and explores the ever evolving GLBT marketplace. Echelon also publishes a weekly newsletter distributed to over 4000 GLBT business professionals, multicultural marketers and GLBT media.  Thanks go out to CEO and editor-in-chief Michael Lamb for publishing this important resource and for allowing me the opportunity to contribute.