Watch your step…to avoid ‘becoming your parents’

There’s an old show business saying attributed to comedian Eddie Cantor: “It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.” That pretty much describes the “career path” of actor Bill Glass, who stars as Dr. Rick in the television commercials for Progressive Insurance.

 

You know him as a life coach character. He is dedicated to ensuring that his self-help group participants avoid turning into their parents. The tagline is: “Progressive can’t save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us.”

 

Now, there’s even an entire book (published in 2021) that is being promoted by Progressive. It’s entitled “Dr. Rick Will See You Now: A Guide to Un-Becoming Your Parents.”

 

The creative genius behind the ad campaign is Mike Sullivan of Arnold Worldwide, a Boston-based advertising agency. An alumnus of Boston University, Sullivan was interviewed by Mara Sassoon, a senior writer at the school. 

“It all started with what we call the ‘parentamorphosis’ campaign. We figured out a strategy around this grownup shift that happens when you buy a house, and how you turn into your parents,” Sullivan said.

 

The ad agency put Glass “in a sweater vest that would make Mr. Rogers proud. His improv, and the way he owned that character with that sort of faux guru vibe, was amazing,” Sullivan said. “There was so much comedy just beneath the surface, but the exterior was such a perfect blend of sincerity and also the tropes of that vanity doctor thing – there was a Dr. Phil element.”

 

Dr. Rick has calmly counseled his group on airport behavior, tsk-tsking the thought of using paper boarding passes. Dr. Rick has coached his clients to refrain from chatting up strangers in elevators. Dr. Rick had advised the group members to de-clutter their homes and remove an excessive collection of throw pillows on their sofas.

 

In a recently aired segment, Dr. Rick’s group encounters a contemporary salad bar that offers more than one kind of lettuce – imagine that. 

“To me, success in advertising isn’t just about winning awards,” Sullivan said. “While those are great, it’s really about tapping into culture and earning the brand a way into the conversation.” 

Dr. Rick was a “Jeopardy!’ television quiz show question in 2021. “That’s an incredibly rewarding nod from culture,” Sullivan said. 

Glass is from Arlington Heights, Ill., near Chicago. Now in his early 50s, Glass attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence and studied journalism, but left school after five years and a bit shy of earning a degree to move to Los Angeles and seek his fortune. 

He’d been around the block a time or two, landing a lot of minor comedic roles in films and in television shows. 

Alex Healey, who writes about the insurance industry, asked Glass about Progressive’s Dr. Rick commercials. 

“I think people are laughing at themselves. They’re laughing at their parents a little bit,” Glass said. “I call it ‘triple regeneration.’” 

“The kids laugh when the parents are acting like the grandparents, the parents laugh when they’re starting to act like their parents, and the grandparents are laughing that their children behind them are starting to turn into them. I’m getting a kick out of the fact that it’s so relatable to every sort of chapter of a family.” 

Glass told Healy his favorite line is: “If you woke up early, no one cares.” 

“It’s a fun one for me,” Glass said, “because it reminds me of my dad who was always up early.”