The "Progressive" insurance commercial girl - Irritating, but lovable?

[UTUSN]

A lot of times she started to irritate, but then, through disciplined, restraining, trained acting, she brings it back from the edge. Cute when she flirts with the bicker, but lovable that she doesn't stalk or cling, but rather humbly LET'S HIM GO. And when she hints to the real Santa, "I like cashmere socks!1"

She's (the actress) almost as smart and hot as Annie LITTLE, the woman in the Amazon-Kindle commercial, who co-wrote the music, wrote the lyrics, sings and acts the commercial, AND plays the piano in it.

**********QUOTE********

Two hours of hair and makeup transform improv comic Stephanie Courtney into Flo, seller of insurance and stealer of hearts.

Recently signed to do 12 more Progressive Insurance ads, Stephanie Courtney also has a recurring role on AMC's series 'Mad Men.'

http://www.austin360.com/tv/content/tv/stories/2008/10/1020progressive.html

The strange allure of the Progressive insurance girl

What makes normal people fall so hard for the cute and perky pitchwoman known as 'Flo'?

By Chris Garcia
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, October 20, 2008

.... "It's so weird," says Stephanie Courtney, the actress who plays Flo.

We spoke to Courtney because we had to. We had to know if she was real or just a cartoon character. If she was at all like the effervescent Flo. If she really wore that much make-up and, hey, who does your hair?

Courtney, 38, has been playing Flo for about a year, and was recently signed to do 12 more Progressive ads. Which makes her the face and voice of Progressive, a peer of the Geico gecko (do they ever hang out, compare rates?) and the Verizon guy. She follows in a heady tradition of corporate mascots, from Palmolive's Madge to Tony the Tiger.

It's been quite a ride for Courtney, a senior member of famed Los Angeles improv troupe the Groundlings. (Courtney and the group performed in September during the Out of Bounds Improv Sketch Comedy Festival in Austin.)

It began with a simple audition for a commercial last fall. She showed up in a polo shirt and ponytail. She did some improvisation. ....

Courtney has popped up in the movies "The Heartbreak Kid" and "Blades of Glory," and was one of four leads in the smart adult comedy "Melvin Goes to Dinner," which won the audience award at South by Southwest in 2003. She also has a recurring role as a gossipy switchboard operator on the hit show "Mad Men." And you can see her doing yoga in a new Glade commercial. ....

********UNQUOTE********

[MrCoffee]

1. No, just irritating, and a little terrifying, like I would want to cover my neck

lest she rip my throat out with her teeth.

[UTUSN]

2. Ha-HAH!1 n/t

[ipfilter]

3. My two year old daughter loves those commercials.

And I have no idea why. I've had to hurry and turn the TV down while she is napping or FLO might wake her up.

[arbusto_baboso]

4. Flo is the kind of woman that's always hitting on me in bars during happy hour.

So, I must say, I have more than a little fondness for that character.

[Taverner]

5. She's hot!

[a kennedy]

6. she comes on......I turn the channel.....

just can not stand her.

[Zomby Woof]

7. I HATE FLO

I want to stuff the E-Trade smarmy baby into her clownish piehole, stuff their carcasses into a Cialis bathtub, and launch them into the sun to die a fiery death.

[EastTennesseeDem]

10. DUzy

[RebelOne]

8. Neil Boortz loves Flo. He thinks she is hot.

He was talking about her on his radio show one day.

[SoxFan]

9. Mmm...Flo!

:loveya:

[jakefrep]

11. I have a crush on her.

What can I say?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. i don't understand her.

Way too much mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, RED RED lipstick, and on top of all that, a totally unflattering SHREDDED pageboy haircut. They call that a "shag". It's not a shag.

A real shag looks like what Jane Fonda wore in "Klute" when she played Bree Daniels.

[UTUSN]

13. The CHARACTER has "too much" make-up/etc. The real her is in the O.P. and

is not like that. She's a trained, disciplined actress. Did she say she was trying for a "shag"? I don't know what she is going for beyond some kind of kooky person who is, however, very intuitive about sizing up her "customers," but the paint is some kind of stock character, like a modern cog employee, like a computer, with human insides?

[Rosie1223]

14. I thought this was a PROGRESSIVE website!

haters.

[stray cat]

15. Just annoying actually

[Raven]

16. I love her! To me she epitomizes all the people in this world who

go out of their way to be friendly and enthusiastic about their lives and their work. She is a good actress to be able to pull that off.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. I know a guy who thinks all those commercials are stoner humor.

Laughs and laughs, and thinks people who aren't stoners don't get it.

[old mark]

18. I can't stand to watch any of her commercials - Usually require a complete

channel change - the mute won't suffice.

Go back to comedy-Flo is a real asshole.

mark

[goldcanyonaz]

19. Can't stand the commercials but they are rememberable so they are a winner.