I Actually Like Progressive's Weirder Ads. Like, a Lot

First off, you can trust there won't be any April Fool's pranks on my site as I despise the so-called holiday. In the spirit of fun and humor however, I wanted to share one thing. You all know I often rant and rave about how much I hate so many advertisements on television these days. A few exceptions aside, I usually eagerly fast-forward through ads. Progressive however has over time built-up this weird continuity with its characters in hilarious segments that makes me actually quite enjoy their 30-second spots. Perhaps one secret to these bits being funny is that the actors in them are quite often comedians who came-up in various comedy or improv scenes (Stephanie Courtney AKA Flo, Jim Cashman AKA Jamie, and so forth). Seriously, though, just watch that absurdist masterpiece above titled, "Step Jamie," and tell me it isn't clever. Or check-out the riff on sitcom concepts, "Maid for Us," that I've embedded below, and try not to at least smile.

These are just recent Progressive ads but there are many others that often amuse me. Whether it is Flo visiting her family (all played by Stephanie Courtney, in manner reminiscent of Eddie Murphy in, "The Nutty Professor," or a jingle riffing on Jamie as a Paul Bunyan-styled figure, Progressive's ads are the right mixture of weird, funny, and clever.