House of Eratosthenes

I can explain why. Flo comes off as if she’s about to be “sassy,” in a negative, nasty-goth-girl sort of way. And then everything that comes out of her mouth is positive. It’s like if you introduced Rose McGowan to your mother, fearing the worst, and then ended the evening utterly befuddled as you realize the actress did a perfect job of minding her P’s and Q’s.

This sweet-and-sour combination achieves a formula that always works: Serve up a contradiction, in the space of a heartbeat. It sends an electrical bolt deep into our subconsciousness that there’s something complex here, something worth investigating.

Why am I irked by Flo? I’m not, not really anyway…she just reminds me of some older acquaintances that are not, and will never be, my type. As a formerly-available straight male I’ve put up some barriers so as not to waste my time or the time of others, and there’s no doubt Flo trips ’em.

The commercial gets the job done. Without a doubt.

Oh, I think Flo is cute as hell.

She reminds me of a good friend of ours.

But I know why she annoys me. It turns out the name “Progressive” insurance isn’t an accident. Big DNC contributor, that company is.
- philmon | 06/27/2009 @ 17:31
I hit mute every time that perky woman hits the screen, those commercials are like fingernails on a chalkboard.
- Daphne | 06/28/2009 @ 11:07
I’m in the minority here as I think she’s pretty hot. Shorter: Yeah, I WOULD. More than once, too.
- bpenni | 06/28/2009 @ 12:52
OTOH… the women in the Eee-Dee ads leave me thinking “who would?”

Just sayin’, ya know.
- bpenni | 06/28/2009 @ 12:53
Oh, I’d do her too…if she offered and if I didn’t have anything else going on.

Of course, ladies don’t offer, they want the gentleman to pursue. I’d be quite the a disappointment in the pursuing department, for reasons mentioned above.

I’d do Erin, too, and she’s a cartoon character. In addition to, like Flo, being a spokesmodel for a car insurance company run by a bunch of liberal enviro-weenie dopes.
- mkfreeberg | 06/28/2009 @ 13:00
I’m glad that someone has finally chosen to blog about this topic. Seriously.

I don’t even have cable or satellite (in fact I sold my TV) at home, and I’m still sick to death of the Progressive ads.

How, you ask? Because I work in an office where there are a LOT of “down” periods, and the TV is on continually in order to entertain us. During that time, I see literally dozens of Progressive Insurance ads in an 8 or 11 hour shift.

Flo is perky to the point of being annoying. I find myself blinded by her rows of dazzling white teeth. I’m also frequently annoyed by the other people in the commercials. The two guys who approach her to buy insurance, one of whom has sold the other his watch, for instance. I can’t put my finger on it, but they really set off my “gay-dar.” Also one of the latest ones, with the price gun. Puhleaze.

Flo is somewhat physically attractive, I suppose, but it’s hard for me to tell completely. She wears white pants and there is so much light in the background that I can’t see very much of her “curves.” What little there is to see is largely hidden behind that stupid apron she’s always wearing. (And she wears too much makeup, frankly. It reminds me of that line in Ferris Bueler’s Day Off, the one from the Charlie Sheen character, “My sister wears too much eye makeup. People say she looks like a whore.”

Don’t you love that little pin she always has on next to her “tricked-out name tag?” The one that says “I Love Insurance?” Uhm, no. Insurance is an expensive necessity…something you hate spending money on. Something you buy for the rare contingencies in life, like a car crash.

To make matters worse, Flo has started showing up in banner ads on my favorite websites, as well as on TV. I’m telling you, this chick is everywhere. The pink-haired cartoon girl on Esurance or the Geico gecko are both far, far easier for me to swallow than Flo is.

One of my co-workers had the best line. He said, “I want to hit her (Flo) in the head with a golf club.” I responded, “One of these days I’m going to write to the Progressive insurance company and tell them that I will NEVER buy insurance from them, just because their commercials are so annoying and so frequently shown on TV.” One of my other co-workers said, “Yeah, but you remember the name, don’t you?” True…but at the least, I couldn’t help wondering how much lower Progressive’s insurance premiums would be if the company didn’t spend so much on advertising.

I had wondered about the company’s name…if there was any connection with political “progressives.” Now that I found out there is, I’m DEFINITELY never buying insurance from them.
- cylarz | 06/28/2009 @ 14:26
Agreed that I won’t be buying insurance from that company.

But seriously, Flo is supposed to be annoyingly perky. I mean, that’s the joke. It’s supposed to be funny, and it kinda is. Buying insurance is anything but exciting, but Flo is psyched by it. Part “Office Space” and all. I think it’s a good campaign and find it entertaining.

Part of the rest of the attraction is probably — sometimes I need a little perkiness in my life. I sure don’t supply any. My friend she reminds me of can be that way occasionally, and I think it’s rather cute. But she’s definitely not that way all the time.

Anyway… it kinda makes me want to look for an insurance company that gives to conservative causes.
- philmon | 06/28/2009 @ 19:52
Of course, ladies don’t offer…

Some do, and I LIKE that in a woman. But perhaps the key word here is “ladies.” I’m like that country-western singer who maintains he likes his wimmen “a lil on the trashy side.” (I’d link the video, but it’s been pulled on YouTube… sloppy amateur live vids are all that exist any longer.)

It’s open to debate whether Flo (the character) is sufficiently trashy. But I’m thinking she might…
- bpenni | 06/29/2009 @ 14:01
Maybe that is what is irksome about Flo. She gives off that vibe of “just work, sleep, feed my cats, work some more, go see my nephews and nieces on the holidays”…not a happenin’ social life. And yet here are all the fellas wondering what she’s like in bed, because she manages to hit that delicate balance between nice and naughty.

Some of the comments and questions I’ve heard from even the experienced gals, about what men possibly do & don’t like — it’s just amazed me what they don’t know about the male mind. So for those who’ve made it a pursuit to figure out our tastes, both individually and generically across the entire male species, I think there must be a certain level of frustration involved that Flo just aggravates even though she’s nothing more than a caricature. Of course, most of us are spending the entire lifetime entrenched in one side of the divide or another, so no one mortal can really speak with authority about such things. But that’s my take.

Wonder if Daphne will show up to offer her thoughts. That would be awesome.
- mkfreeberg | 06/29/2009 @ 14:27
I think y’all are weird, that’s what I think.

She looks like one of those chicks who gives blowjobs in nightclub bathrooms to strangers after she’s downed a few jello shots. She looks like one of those women who tries to move herself in after three easy, sex drenched dates. She looks like the kind of woman who’s only tolerable when her mouth is full because otherwise she never shuts the hell up. She looks like she’d stalk your ass out of a job and kill your cat if you tried to gently tell her it just wasn’t going to be working out for the long term. She looks like a bad decision waiting to happen.

You’re over thinking this thing, Morgan. You men think with your lower heads on women like her, women like me have had to clean up after her slutty, dimwitted messes. Plus she’s just annoying, nobody solid or interesting is that fricking perky 24/7.

That’s my two cents.
- Daphne | 06/29/2009 @ 15:01
[…] of Eratosthenes offers some serious Hot Pants, and Flo the unusually attractive insurance […]
- Gabrielle Union presents Rule 5 Sunday – Extra Hot! | 06/29/2009 @ 23:19
…those commercials are like fingernails on a chalkboard.
– Daphne | June 28, 2009 @ 11:07 am

Daphne nails it in one.

And She nails it again even harder in the comment above.

Honestly, a women like that would make me swear of sex forever it she was the only option.
- pdwalker | 06/30/2009 @ 06:15

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Irked by FloSaturday, June 27th, 2009

Irked by Flo
Saturday, June 27th, 2009