| Flo | |
|---|---|
Flo, as portrayed by actress Stephanie Courtney |
|
| First appearance | 2008 |
| Created by | Arnold Worldwide |
| Portrayed by | Stephanie Courtney |
| Company | Progressive Insurance |
| Information | |
| Aliases | The Progressive Girl |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Insurance salesperson |
| Nationality | American |
Flo is a fictional character that appears in commercials for Progressive Insurance. The character was created by the Boston-based agency Arnold Worldwide,[1] specifically copywriter John Park and art director Steve Reepmeyer.[2] She is played by actress and comedian Stephanie Courtney, and has been cited in news articles as having a sizable fan base on social networks like Facebook.[3][4][5]
Flo debuted in 2008 through television commercials and has since appeared in radio advertisements and web banners.[6] As of November 2010, she had appeared in 53 commercials.[7]
In 2011, Progressive introduced an Australian counterpart to Flo, named Kitty,[8] played by an Australian actress.
Flo is a cashier and is recognizable by her extremely enthusiastic, upbeat persona, heavy makeup, and retro hairstyle. According to Courtney, it takes one hour for Flo's hair to be prepared, and another hour for her makeup to be applied.[9] Referring to her work in The Groundlings, Courtney noted, "Flo could be one of my improv characters, always on and sort of cracked in a weird way." A December 15, 2008 article in Advertising Age described Flo as "a weirdly sincere, post-modern Josephine the Plumber who just really wants to help. She has: the brand is flourishing."[10]
In October 2009, the Boston Herald referred to Flo as "the commercial break's new sweetheart," and said that Courtney was "attaining TV ad icon status". The same article also reported that she was the subject of a popular Halloween costume. At that time, a Facebook page called "Flo, The Progressive Girl" had garnered a little over one million fans. Multiple websites were dedicated to her, and she was popular on Twitter and various Internet forums.[11]
A testament to her popularity, Flo was added as a downloadable character in the video game ModNation Racers in late 2010, complete with her own Progressive kart.[12][13]