The best insurance commercials are often the most memorable—but in 2025 they’re also more data-driven. CTV/streaming has become a primary reach vehicle as streaming accounts for around 40% of U.S. TV usage, making connected TV essential for insurers seeking incremental reach and frequency control (Nielsen The Gauge 2025). Insurers are shifting more video budgets to CTV and planning TV holistically (linear + CTV) with outcome-based KPIs like quote starts and bind rates (IAB 2025 Video Ad Spend), while ad-supported streaming supply continues to expand (Comscore State of Streaming 2025). Creator-led content is scaling across YouTube/CTV and social (GroupM 2025 Forecast), with tighter compliance expectations—especially in health insurance marketing (CMS 2025 policies). The biggest insurance advertisers sustain massive share-of-voice: Progressive and GEICO each reported over $2B in advertising expense in FY2024 (Progressive Annual Report; Berkshire Hathaway 2024 AR), while State Farm and Allstate remain top-five by measured media and national TV presence (Vivvix/Kantar; iSpot.tv Insights). As spend concentrates in CTV, verification against invalid traffic and brand safety stays critical (DoubleVerify Global Insights 2025).
Table of Contents
- Progressive’s Flo and Dr. Rick
- Geico’s Celebrity Cameos
- Allstate’s Iconic Ads
- Jake from State Farm
- Conclusion
Progressive Works From Home
Progressive’s early work-from-home setups with Flo mirrored real behavior change—and hybrid work remains durable, with about 28% of U.S. paid full days worked from home in 2025 (WFH Research). The lasting strategic shift is broader: Progressive leans into CTV to capture incremental reach as streaming holds ~40% of TV usage (Nielsen), plans linear + CTV holistically, and optimizes to outcomes like quote starts and bind rates rather than GRPs alone (IAB Video Ad Spend 2025). Its character system—Flo and the advice-forward Dr. Rick—continues to deliver brand fluency; humorous “fluent devices” are linked with stronger long-term advertising effects and higher enjoyment/recall when branding is intrinsic to the joke (System1 Fluent Devices; Kantar 2024; Ipsos Humor). Progressive has publicly continued the Dr. Rick platform with new creative beats (Progressive Newsroom) and, like peers, pairs video with privacy-safe data collaboration/clean rooms and MMM/geo experiments to tie CTV exposure to quotes and binds (IAB Internet Ad Revenue 2024). Post-pandemic telematics/UBI adoption continues to rise across the industry—roughly one-fifth of auto customers participate—which supports value messaging around safe-driver discounts and flexible coverage (J.D. Power 2024; LexisNexis 2024).
Idina Menzel Moonlights for Geico
GEICO’s Gecko remains one of the most recognized brand characters in U.S. advertising, and the brand selectively layers celebrity cameos to refresh the platform. Evidence shows celebrities can spike attention—especially around live sports—but only reliably drive long-term effect when the star reinforces the brand idea and distinctive assets (System1 Super Bowl 2024; WARC/IPA). Among celebrity types, athletes are the most effective partners with U.S. consumers—fitting GEICO’s heavy sports investment—while generic fame alone is lower-trust (Morning Consult 2024; Edelman Trust 2024). That’s why GEICO’s most resilient formula pairs cameos with the Gecko, clear savings/product cues, and strong branding to avoid misattribution. Scale-wise, GEICO remains a top spender with advertising expense exceeding $2B in FY2024 (Berkshire Hathaway 2024 AR), supporting year-round visibility across linear TV, CTV, and social video (iSpot.tv; Vivvix/Kantar).
Allstate Man Grabs a Burger
Dennis Haysbert’s authoritative voice and the revived Mayhem character give Allstate two distinctive brand assets that make the brand hard to miss—an approach aligned with evidence that character-led humor boosts attention and long-term effects when brand linkage is strong (Kantar 2024; System1 Fluent Devices). Importantly, the oft-heard “40% savings” pertains to Allstate’s Drivewise telematics program and should be framed accurately as potential savings up to 40%, varying by state and driving behavior—and in some states delivered as cash back rather than a pure premium discount (Allstate Drivewise; NerdWallet; Bankrate; Forbes Advisor). The FTC underscores that “up to” claims must be substantiated and not imply guaranteed results (FTC guidance). Allstate’s scale remains top-tier (regularly top-five by measured media), with renewed investment in distinctive assets like Mayhem to drive salience across TV and CTV (Allstate Newsroom; Vivvix/Kantar; iSpot.tv). As CTV spend grows, Allstate and peers apply app-level transparency and inclusion lists to mitigate invalid traffic risks (DoubleVerify 2025).
Jake from State Farm’s Late-Night Calls
Jake from State Farm has evolved into a high-salience brand persona amplified by sports and social video. In the Super Bowl, celebrity integrations work best when they serve the brand’s core device: State Farm’s 2024 “Like a Good Neighba” execution leveraged celebrity to reinforce the tagline and ranked at the top of public leaderboards (USA TODAY Ad Meter; System1 Super Bowl 2024). Athlete partners are particularly effective for insurance advertisers in sports contexts, aligning with research that athletes outperform other celebrity types on favorability and persuasion among sports viewers (Morning Consult 2024). State Farm is consistently a top-three spender by measured media in the U.S., using CTV alongside linear to manage deduplicated reach as streaming holds ~40% share and ad-supported tiers expand live sports inventory (Vivvix/Kantar; iSpot.tv; Comscore 2025). The brand’s TV strategy reflects category shifts toward outcome-based buying, cross-platform measurement, and privacy-safe clean-room collaboration (IAB Video Ad Spend 2025; IAB Internet Ad Revenue 2024).
The Bottom Line
Insurance commercials succeed when they blend distinctive characters, accountable media, and contemporary consumer contexts. In 2025: CTV/streaming keeps gaining share and is planned holistically with outcomes like quotes and binds (IAB; Comscore), creator-led content continues to scale with governance (GroupM; CMS 2025), and humor anchored in strong brand assets remains one of the most reliable levers for attention and memorability (System1 Funny Is Money; Kantar). The largest insurers back these strategies with top-tier budgets—Progressive and GEICO at $2B+ ad expense in FY2024, State Farm and Allstate among the top spenders by measured media—while reinforcing verification and supply-path quality in CTV (Progressive; Berkshire Hathaway; Vivvix/Kantar; DoubleVerify). For more insights, check out The Best Homeowners Insurance and discover the differences in Geico vs. State Farm.
