Personality vs. Policy: Insurers Bet Big on Mascots to Drive Sales

A cheerful anthropomorphic lizard who speaks with a British accent has trouble clearing airport security and sometimes disguises himself as a cowpoke. A banged-up and bruised fellow in a tattered suit and tie who calls himself “Mayhem” continually breaks things and causes car wrecks.

A life coach named Dr. Rick is frequently frustrated with middle-aged couples acting like their parents. And an overenthusiastic woman in a pristine white uniform materializes in absurd sitcom-like situations, sometimes accompanied by her quirky co-workers.

Is this any way to sell auto insurance? The $350 billion auto insurance industry apparently thinks so.

Beginning around the turn of the century, insurers began to eschew the traditional earnest, sober ads that emphasized trust, longevity, and stability (“You’re in good hands,” “Like a good neighbor,” and “Get a piece of the rock”) in favor of high-octane circuses featuring a menagerie of mascots, crazy scenarios, and punchlines that have little to do with the actual product.

The trend may help keep big-name insurers top of mind when consumers need to buy car insurance. But fun ads aren’t aimed at helping customers understand insurance terminology or how policies work, experts say.

Leveraging humor to elevate brand recognition

“GEICO was the first company to utilize this style of advertising, and demonstrated that investing heavily in quirky direct-to-consumer advertising could help establish a successful empire,” Rami Sneineh, vice president of Insurance Navy Brokers, told Insurify.

“This advertising style also created an environment where competitors were forced to develop their own iconic personalities,” Sneineh said. “The thought is that memory and emotion, not policy details, are the driving factors behind the initial decision made by the consumer.”

Indeed, auto insurance can be a complex product to sell, full of arcane and technical jargon like PIP (personal injury protection), liability limits, comprehensive vs. collision coverage, and deductibles. Rather than bog down prospective customers with mundane details, auto insurance advertisers decided to go for brand recognition and emotion to market their products.

“The problem for auto insurance as an industry is that there is little to truly differentiate between one provider and another,” Duane Varan, CEO of MediaPET.ai told Insurify. “The solution to this problem is if you can’t compete on the product itself, you compete on the branding.”

The key, Varan said, is “mental availability.” The goal for advertisers is to be the brand that people remember when they’re making their insurance decisions.

“So brand distinctiveness becomes critical — ideally with a mnemonic device that cues memory, hence the Liberty Mutual insurance ads all being in front of the Statue of Liberty,” Veran said.

But why humor? Aren’t there ways to build brand recognition without resorting to silly situations and colorful mascots like lizards and emus?

“Humor helps a brand come across as human,” said Jennifer Lindauer, director of Brand Marketing at Plymouth Rock Assurance. “In a serious category like insurance, it creates contrast and makes messages more memorable.”

Everybody likes to laugh, Lindauer told Insurify, and humor is one of the most natural ways to capture attention and build a real connection.

“Ultimately, humor allows us to bring warmth, empathy, and a sense of joy to an industry that people don’t always associate with either — and that’s what makes it meaningful,” she said.

Selling a brand, not just insurance policies

The big auto insurers are certainly all in with the concept. The Progressive Corporation, with its Flo and company of characters as well as Dr. Rick, spent nearly $3.5 billion on advertising last year, a nearly 187% increase from 2023.

In fact, the top four auto insurers all now rely on colorful or comedic mascots: Jake from State Farm, Flo from Progressive, Mayhem from Allstate, and LiMu Emu and Doug from Liberty Mutual.

While many viewers find the ads entertaining and probably more palatable than a dry monologue about actuarial tables, the emphasis on humor isn’t intended to educate consumers about the finer points of insurance shopping and buying.

The ads don’t aim to educate viewers on vital insurance terminology, such as the difference between bodily injury liability and personal injury protection (PIP). Instead of using airtime to demystify the process, the focus remains on entertainment.

“Most of our clients arrive at our office with a particular character in mind; however, they have virtually no knowledge about the insurance products themselves,” said Insurance Navy Brokers’ Sneineh.

Furthermore, the advertising blitz can create an over-reliance on brand familiarity, sometimes leading consumers to overlook potentially better, more affordable, or more appropriate coverage options from less-advertised competitors, Sneineh said.

“Insurance is a product people only research when there is a specific need,” he said. “Therefore, the objective is to be the first name that pops into a person’s head when they think of insurance.”

The biggest budget often buys the most effective mascot, not necessarily the best policy.

But experts agree the memorable mascots keep insurers top of mind as consumers search for a new policy. And that’s important in a marketplace where record numbers of drivers are comparison shopping for insurance policies.

“When a consumer is ready to compare insurance prices, the brand they remember entertaining them the most will likely be the one they consider first,” Rachita Chettri, CEO of Linkible, a global digital PR and SEO firm, told Insurify.

“Ultimately, the mascot has become the emotional salesperson for the brand and keeps the brand top of mind until the time when the purchase takes place,” Chettri said. “These advertisements do not sell insurance every day, but they sell the ability to recognize the brand, which ultimately converts into a sale.”

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