Gay Progressive Insurance Commercial?

Mon, Feb 23, 2009

During this morning’s “Millionaire,” this Progressive commercial ran. Is it gay? I think it is. I mean, this is a gay couple, and one sold his watch to the other one, right?

And check these out:

Gay Honda Commercial?

Commercials Go Tacitly Gay

Levi’s Gay-Inclusive “Go Forth” Commercial

Internet Explorer 8 Goes Gay

Fake Gay Carl’s Jr. Commercial Could and Should Be Real

Share the Love:

Commercials, Gay, Progressive Insurance

48 Comments For This Post

darryl Says:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:40 pm

looks more like a couple of gay dudes than a gay couple. i mean…

Vallerie Says:
February 24th, 2009 at 8:38 am

no. they are not a couple. What couple do you know that would sell a watch to their partner?

AKAWilliam Says:
February 24th, 2009 at 9:33 am

I guess I was thinking that they were sort of teasing each other . . .

ramus Says:
February 24th, 2009 at 10:08 am

I think it can go either way. Not sure what they are trying to say.

JacksMom Says:
February 24th, 2009 at 12:15 pm

Uhm the thing is…Progressive does not have any products for gay couples! I called to find out if we could get a discount since we have our domestic partnership papers and was told “We do not recognize same sex couples, but we do recognize roommates.” How screwed up is that?

AKAWilliam Says:
February 24th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

That is VERY screwed up. And confusing. Progressive ads are occasionally featured on my site, and ads are targeted to a site’s content, and my content is about as gay as it gets . . . Maybe Progressive is pulling a Pepsi and trying to have it both ways.

J Anderson Says:
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:19 am

Yes, it’s gay. They put the watch thing in there just to introduce some ambiguity. They’re flamming.

Gil Says:
March 4th, 2009 at 3:26 am

I think they are both gay, but friends, the biggest clue is the rainbow design on the guy with the black shirt. I wouldn’t say they are flaming, but they have a suttle gayness. Which I wish more commercials would do more often. We are however 10 percent of the population and should be recognized more often.

AKAWilliam Says:
March 4th, 2009 at 7:40 am

I’m with you on the rainbow design . . . And, yeah, I also kinda loved the normalcy of the interaction between these guys.

tman Says:
March 5th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

tall guys mannerism look gay. when he extends his arm to show off the watch. and when do two guys go together to buy insurance

Peter Says:
March 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Well, considering that I arrived at this site via a google search on ‘progressive.com commercial “gay couple’…

BTW: I am wondering what markets the commercial airs in. I live in San Francisco, so it’s a no-brainer it would be shown here.

Ha Says:
March 12th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

and the one guy was wearing a rambo shirt

Ha Says:
March 12th, 2009 at 6:40 pm

woops i meant rainbow

blu Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

The one with glasses is kinda wearing a rainbow shirt too… I googled it today (finding your site) because I thought it was a commercial aimed at the homosexual community…

Sheila Says:
March 15th, 2009 at 9:35 am

First time I saw this ad, I knew it was aimed toward the gay community. I live in Denver, and the gay community here is relatively strong. To me, it shows that the company is all-inclusive. Other commercials feature differences in age, sex and race. In this particular commercial, I think the couple was portrayed subtly enough that homophobes and ass-backward hateful people might not notice and give the company a “Gay Lover” label. Progressive is trying to say, “We accept everyone” but at the same time the end up saying, “Don’t tell anyone.”

Anthony Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:02 pm

It appears that the gentlemen in the commercial appear to be gay but, the commerical has nothing to do with that. The purpose of the commercial is that the economy right now sucks and getting the lowest rate is the goal. Progressive offers rates for other companies to compare. It has nothing to do with or does it mention anything about discounts for domestic partnerships as someone stated above.

Bretini Says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 pm

i’m pretty sure its a gay commercial or its intended to be.
the man without the watch is wearing a simple gray shirt
with rainbow stripes going right across his chest.
so i think its a very gentle way of having a gay commercial

Jaggof Says:
March 22nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Fucking Queers!

AKAWilliam Says:
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:05 pm

I appreciate your use of a capital “Q.” Makes us sound so . . . formal.

Al Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 9:06 pm

I want to know about those cavemen in the Geico commercial. After all, what straight guy would be savvy enough to order roast duck with mango salsa?

aj Says:
March 31st, 2009 at 10:54 am

good thing that Esurance has domestic partner ship discounts no matter where you live!!

Dave Says:
April 4th, 2009 at 11:14 am

Sure they’re gay. I mean, come on…

It seems to be running all over the country. I see it regularly here in the South.

Gay folks, it seems, need insurance, too.

CH Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 2:23 am

Well I’m not Gay and I too got here with a google search cause my fiance and I were arguing over it I thought it was aimed at the Gay community she didn`t (rainbow gave it away) if you guys think its two gay guys that convinces me thanks! something to bust her on lol!!

androild love Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 9:35 pm

i found this page by a google search “progressive insurance homosexual gay couple” . i was hoping progressive was being progressive. and then i read, “We do not recognize same sex couples, but we do recognize roommates”. don’t ask don’t tell?

androild love Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

http://www.progressive.com/insurance/glbt/default.aspx?&code=9903600196

AKAWilliam Says:
April 13th, 2009 at 9:51 pm

Ah, this link makes more sense. The page looks like it’s part of a new campaign.

Progressive advertises on this site with one of my favorite ads using the same elements– a Civil War-era photo of two mean leaning intimately against each other, and the caption says something like, “After all this time, a company that lives up to its name.”

Wiggly Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 9:37 am

Ten percent! That’s hilarious! You guys even believe your own propaganda. Hilarious and sad.

I challenge anyone to find the source of the study that shows ten percent of Americans are homosexual. I’ve done the legwork, and all you will find are two articles that refer to each other as the source of the “study”.

AKAWilliam Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

Wiggly, you are wrong.

While the number of people who have had exclusively homosexual sex is around 2%, separate relatively recent studies in Canada, Australia, Sweden, the US, and Germany found that between 7-18% of people surveyed have had homosexual desire or contact.

Further, the studies have all indicated that the number of people surveyed who reported homosexual contact is likely lower than the actual number because of the stigmatization of homosexuality in the surveyed countries.

You might want to keep up with that leg routine.

Melanie Says:
April 17th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

The Department of Insurance cannot discount or acknowledge a domestic partnership the way they can with married couples is because it is not supported with a legal document such as a marriage license. Progressive must adhere to what the Department of Insurance describes as “legal”. They cannot “recognize” the union. I can say, however, that this commercial was a very deliberate attempt to attract this community by communicating that they as a company recognize homosexuality as common as a heterosexual one. I think this is a tremendous and courageous act by Progressive.

Sports fan Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 9:07 pm

I agree they appear to be gay. What I can’t figure out is why it regularly shows on ESPN–not exactly the gay demographic.

Wiggly Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 11:14 am

Could you be more specific? I can’t find any study with those numbers. Perhaps you would be willing to cite reliable sources.

Wiggly Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 11:14 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_sexual_orientation

AKAWilliam Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 11:32 am

Wiggly,

This wikipedia entry is a great compilation of the studies I was referring to in my previous response to you.

Thank you for helping me prove my point.

And, now that we’ve come to an agreement on the prevalence of homosexuality, we can hopefully come to an agreement about the immorality behind the argument in your initial comment — even if gays do made up just 1% of the population (which they don’t), the uncommonness of a behavior is not reason to discriminate against that behavior.

Wiggly Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

I must have missed the 18% figure somewhere. I’m not even certain that there was any figure as high as seven percent in there anywhere. I don’t think molested choir boys count.

Where did I condone discrimination. I guess it is discrimination to call one on manufactured statistics. Now I understand how one of the wealthiest segments of the population can consider themselves so horribly discriminated against. If everyone will just believe all your propaganda, then give you the political clout that goes along with it, you could pursue happiness and all will be right with the world.

AKAWilliam Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Wiggly, you need to read the wikipedia page more closely. From the section on the 2003 Australia study: “8.6% of men and 15.1% of women reported either feelings of attraction to the same sex or some sexual experience with the same sex.” And from the Hamburg study: ” . . . in 1970 18% of the boys aged 16 and 17 reported to have had same-sex sexual experiences, the number had dropped to 2% by 1990.”

And, as I said before, you need to do more leg work. In the recent study on gays and wealth by Dr. Gary J. Gates, the Williams Distinguished Scholar at The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, Gates found that gay people are much more likely to be in poverty than straight people. Read more about it here: http://www.akawilliam.com/new-study-gay-people-more-likely-to-be-poor/

Your argument that the gay population is one the wealthiest segments of the population is wrong. Additionally, your misinformation is exactly the kind of propaganda that is so often used to deny gay people full civil rights. Many gay people continue to suffer, daily, because they are not given access to many rights that straight people take for granted.

gordie Says:
April 21st, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Well, I came upon this site after googling “are the guys in the progressive ad gay?” I just watched the ad, and even though I’d seen it maybe ten times, it only just struck me that they seemed gay. So I posed the question, and here I am. So that’s pretty compelling evidence that they at least come off as gay. I mean, who buys car insurance together? Couples?

Curt Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:06 pm

I don’t watch commercials generally but just saw this Progressive commercial and knew immediately that it was targeted to the Gay audience. It was something about the rainbow stripes on the shorter guys t-shirt that clued me in. Kudos to Progressive!

Melanie’s comment above on 4/17 is not factual. My domestic partner has been listed on my MetLife car insurance for the last 5 years. We get a family discount, not unusual at all. We also get the family discount for our health club membership at 24hr Fitness.

Glad to see Progressive recognizes that there is a gay market for their insurance that’s probably less risky than some hetero market segments.

John Says:
April 24th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

DOH!

I was having an argument with my partner about whether or not this ad was aimed at the gay community. I lost :(

I guess I see the point now. What straight guy takes his friend to go buy auto insurance?

Chris Says:
April 28th, 2009 at 3:24 am

Sell your watch to your boyfriend? I just hide something I want and wait six months until he has forgotten about it.

medellon Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 7:53 pm

I saw this commercial and immediately thought the 2 guys were gay and possibly roommates, not sure about a couple. The rainbow design on his shirt is a dead giveaway for one and they way the acted sealed the deal. 2 straight dudes just do not act this way. I’m as far from gay as you can be and can usually tell gay from staright with an uncanny ease.

cravin moorehead Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 4:18 pm

What kind of watch was it?

Some Guy Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:38 pm

The funny thing is I never even noticed the rainbow stripes on the short guy, but I could immediately tell these guys were a couple of homosexuals just from their mannerisms and interaction with each other. Doesn’t take much gaydar to peg these guys. I Googled “gay guys on progressive commercial” and sure enough this site was the first one up!

Breanne Says:
May 6th, 2009 at 10:30 pm

another directed by google search ‘gay progressive commercial’

The first tip off to me was two men buying insurance together. then the watch. then the conversation. the rainbow on the shirt was the last thing i noticed after seeing the commercial repeatedly.

this one is pretty clear

Hugh Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

RAINBOW SHIRT! ‘NUF SAID!

Mark33 Says:
June 9th, 2009 at 4:30 pm

I like the commercial. It is a great portrayal of gays in the media. I do have a problem with several comments on here that this commercial was subtly gay. What is that supposed to mean? Im picturing them walking into the frame holding each other and acting super effeminate with one wearing leather and the other wearing a dress. That, i guess, would be an overtly gay commercial. Believe it or not, gay people do not act flamboyant all the time. Some don’t “act” at all. I wish we could see stereotypes as stereotypes and not fact. Anyway, nice commercial.

Pablo Says:
June 24th, 2009 at 9:04 am

Yes, it appears to be leaning to a gay couple. It has not been playing here in NYC the last few weeks, May Ju ne, but had been ib MSNBC every 2 hours or so during the work day

Bill S. Says:
July 18th, 2009 at 7:48 pm

Hi. I’m a gay Progressive employee and customer. Progressive does offer a married rating for same-sex couples in those states that recognize same-sex marriage/civil unions/domestic partnerships. Insurance is highly regulated and we are bound to follow our state filing when it comes to rating our policies.

Progressive also offert full benefits for LGBT employees and their partners – one reason why we have a 100% rating from HRC.

As far as the ad in question, I spoke to the head of our advertising department at a mixer for lgbt employees. He told me that the couple in the ad was deliberately cast so that they could be perceived as being a gay couple, for those receptive enough to pick up the signals. Significantly, this was before we started the lgbt advertising push.

AKAWilliam Says:
July 21st, 2009 at 8:00 am

@Bill S.,

Thanks for the info! Gotta love Progressive.

Comments

(Comments are moderated so there might be a slight delay in seeing the very first comment you post on AKA William. But once your first comment is validated, you'll be able to immediately see any subsequent comments you leave.)