Welcome!

Hey everyone, my name is Garrett Johnston, and for the next few months I'll be analyzing the best and worst of this years advertisements. As a sophomore at Elon University and studying Strategic Communications, I have an ever growing passion for Public Relations and the art of advertising. Everything in this world is a product, and behind all those products is someone trying to sell it to you. Some people and companies are successful in the art of selling you their products, while some struggle. My first post contains two ads which people have become very familiar with; one which is popular, and one which is not. The first ad I will analyze is part of a humorous marketing campaign being put together by Geico. After the ups and downs of the gecko and caveman campaigns, Geico needed something fresh that grabbed the attention of the viewer, and made their product clear to every audience. They came up with their "happier than" campaign, which contains the oh-so-popular 'hump day' commercial, among other hits. If you live under a rock and haven't seen the famous 'hump day' commercial, here it is:

The ad is simply genius. I've seen the ad maybe 200 times, and I still laugh every time. The ad has and will remain successful for many different reasons. The first is because the ad has become synonymous with the day Wednesday. This causes you to think of the ad every Wednesday, not only giving you a chuckle, but a subconscious thought of how Geico can save you 15 percent or more on car insurance (making you happier than a camel on hump day). It also created an iconic figure in that of the camel. Whenever I see a camel now (not that I see camels very often), I immediately think of it yelling HUMP DAY. The most legendary commercials do this very thing: create an iconic figure in your head synonymous with the companies brand. This commercial has gotten plenty of airtime, and won't stop getting it anytime soon. Geico, you're doing it right.

Now to the company that most people have grown to hate their advertisements: Progressive. I simply do not see the appeal of Flo. Every time I see a Progressive commercial, I want to grab the nearest hard object and hurl it at my television. I don't know a single person who will actually watch a Progressive commercial. I understand the argument that maybe people hate the commercial so much that they remember it, but still. I'm pretty sure that people hate Flo so much that they have started to avoid Progressive, which is why they have started to move into a new advertisement campaign: the talking insurance box (which is equally as dumb).

I don't see any redeeming qualities for this commercial. Instead of making a popular iconic figure like the camel, they just make us viewers HATE Flo.

This is the only OK Progressive Commercial (Below)

This commercial is OK because it tells you a positive feature about Progressive insurance, and adds a funny twist. However, other than this ad, Progressive is doing it wrong.