Traveler’s Insurance Man — Giant Umbrella Man
sjbooher: This makes me feel uncomfortable. I do not know quite the right word to describe this type of ad… pretentious? self-righteous? ostentatious? self-prostenteous? Whatever it is, I don’t like it. When “they” made this ad, how did “they” think I was going to feel when I watched it? I bet “they” did not think I would feel like I was suddenly catching a bird’s eye view of some creepy child molester, carrying his big red umbrella to attract all the kids and take them into the woods… awful.
Onto the more technical side of things, does the average person still instantly recognize the red umbrella? If not, this might just be a monumental failure. I remember the commercials from back in the day, so I knew right away what was going on, but I also had a family member that worked for Traveler’s, and red umbrella stuff was always around the house. Even if they do not, I guess this at least gets the ol’ umbrella back out there. D.
jtherkal: Why does every old man with a giant red umbrella have to be a child molester? I didn’t really know what Travelers was, but I knew that the red umbrella was some sort of icon. It’s strange enough to get my attention and it definitely stands apart from other insurance commercials. Maybe this was just the first of a series, designed to introduce the giant red umbrella so you recognize it when you see it in future ads. If not, this seems a little inadequate. What are they promising? Low prices? Good service? Giant red umbrellas? I guess it starts to establish a personality for the brand. And I noticed it. B-.
Word I’m unable to spell properly without a dictionary: inadequate. inadaquit.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:30 am
BRILLIANT ad. Kind of a take off on the magical RED BALLOON, superbly done with a great custom soundtrack. I smile every time this appears and have actually checked out the travelers website. ANY company that would promote such a whimsical fun ad must be patronized!
Dave in Md
May 20th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Projecting? There is nothing in that ad that even implies creepiness or pretentiousness. From my vantage point, in the past year or 2, Travelers’ used 3 very memorable ads; the shark cage, the SF ball of debris and this one (which re-introduces their icon). Kudos to whoever does their marketing as well as those on youtube who have a quite different opinion.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Everything ABOUT this ad screams creepy to me. If I’m a kid in the forest, no, I don’t want some old man floating in on a giant umbrella to carry me home. You’re right on it, sjb.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:18 am
November 16th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
who is the actor that portrays the giant umbrella insurance man?