In its first campaign to target Gen Z, Progressive and the creative team at Arnold have tapped into Ed Helms’ (The Office, The Hangover, National’s Lampoon’s Vacation) musical talents for an all-digital campaign, Progressive Presents: Driver’s Ed with Ed Helms.
The campaign, rooted in Gen Z insights of where and how they consume media, underscores Progressive’s commitment to making insurance and insurance knowledge accessible to all, especially to future young drivers.
A series of three music videos, each song features an important insurance lesson – in true Progressive fashion of course!
Insure You Do is an 80s rock song where Helms, dressed for the part, asks the question, “do you need insurance when you buy a car?” Spoiler alert: insure you do!
Girl, You Drive Me Safely pays homage to the iconic all–white outfitted boy bands and teen idols of the early 2000s via a fun pop tune, congratulating a new teen diver and saying goodbye to their learner’s permit.
Covering You serves as a gentle reminder of the need for your own policy once you move out of your parents, with an ode to over-the-top garb and ballads of country music artists. Because when it comes to country music, we go big.
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When tasked with targeting one of the largest generations, the team at Arnold knew they had to meet Gen Z where they engage and become engrossed in fresh content daily — online.
And while they can quote The Office in their sleep, car insurance typically isn’t the next TikTok video they are watching. Thus, the partnership with Helms to write funny songs about the otherwise mundane, dull insurance facts they need to know, was born.
“Our clients at Progressive came to us with a simple problem: how could they educate the next generation of drivers about the realities of car insurance? We responded with Driver’s Ed with Ed Helms. The Office is one of the most-streamed shows in history, and has a sneaky-massive Gen Z viewership. And Ed was so perfect for this – he manages to combine music and humor with this earnest, loveably nerdy responsibleness, which manages to make the information credible even as its dripping in silliness. While our creative reference points were stuff like Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords, in the end the team made something that is very unique to this. We were lucky enough to get DJ Javerbaum of Daily Show fame to write the lyrics,” shares Sean McBride, Chief Creative Officer: ”
CREDITS:
CLIENT: Progressive Insurance
AGENCY: Arnold Worldwide
- Chief Creative Officer: Sean McBride
- Chief Client Officer: Val Bettini
- Creative Director, Art: Thomas Hair
- Creative Director, Copy: Tom Kelly
- Art Director: Daniel Hughes
- Copywriter: Courtney Hoenicke
- Junior Copywriter: Samuel Ike
- VP/Executive Producer: Whitney Bogosian
- Sr. Producer: Lauren Landry
- VP/Marketing Director: Jordan Colleran, Alex McSweeney
- Senior Marketing Manager: Esther Wang
- EVP, Brand Strategy Director: Catherine Sheehan
- SVP, Director of Business Affairs: Danielle Ivicic, Camara Price
- Assoc. Director of Project Management: Eric Rubino
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Hobby Film
- Director: Craig Brownrigg
- Executive Producer: Renee Krumweide
- Line Producer: Josh Rothfeld
EDIT: Cosmo Street
- Editor: Aaron Langley
- Asst. Editor: Jared Zygarlicke
- Producer: Paolo Solarte
COLOR: CO3
Colorist: Joseph Bicknell
VFX: Zero
- Executive Producer: Meg Bailey
- Sr. Producer: Danny Dianora
- Flame Artist: Mark L’Heureux
MUSIC: Singing Serpent
- Executive Producer: Dennis Culp
- Lyrics:
- DJ Javerbaum
MIX: Soundtrack Boston
Engineer: Dave Sicilian
