First came the “stay home” Covid-19 montage ads. (OK, no doubt, first came a lot of panic – then came the Covid-19 montage ads). Next came the “you can do this” montage Covid-19 ads, followed closely by the “we’re on your side” Covid-19 montage ads. Then some people (not all of them ad people) noticed that all these ads looked pretty much the same and a wave of parody Covid-19 montage ads appeared. As a side dish, some video call parodies were added.

There have been some interesting deviations from the Covid-19 formula recently, but none with the star quality of Arnold’s campaign for Progressive insurance. Let’s hope this campaign is the harbinger of Covid-19 ad inventiveness to come.

https://youtu.be/TvHm9ccW8-w

https://youtu.be/XIhuNFv_P8U

https://youtu.be/MLdAfEAOK8E

The characters in the ads have been gradually added to Progressive’s cast since 2008, when Flo was introduced.

Credits

Agency: Arnold
Chief Creative Officer: Sean McBride
SVP, Creative Directors: Nate Donabed & Josh Kahn
Creative Director & Art Director: Thomas Hair
Associate Creative Director & Copywriter: Zac Milner
Broadcast Producer: Mike Lawson
Production Assistant: Danielle Balanov
Business Affairs: Danielle Ivicic
Planner: Catherine Sheehan, Kylee Donovan
Project Manager: Eric Rubino
Marketing: Val Bettini & Caroline Kozub

Production Company: Station Film
Director: Brendan Gibbons
Line Producer: Julie Lee
Partners & Executive Producers: Caroline Gibney & Steven Orent

Post Production: Union Editorial
Partner & Editor: Merritt Duff
Colourist: Alex Bickel
Sound Engineer: Milos Zivkovic
Lead Flame Artist: Jason Ortenberg
Producer Motion GFX & Finishing: Tim Veirling
Senior Producer: Susan Motamed
Executive Producer: Melissa Lubin
Managing Director & Partner: Caryn Maclean