While I think more time should be spent endlessly hypothesizing about the sexual preferences of fictional characters, the debate over whether the recent Progressive advertisement is breaking new ground is meaningless. I also prefer to think of Honey Smacks’ Dig’em Frog as being completely asexual because I find him and his cereal repulsive.
Frosted Flakes’ Tony the Tiger is a stereotypical heterosexual alpha male, splitting his time among various extreme sports, and his mother, wife, son and daughter were introduced to the public during the 1970s. Cap’n Crunch is a known womanizer when on shore leave and Sonny, the Cocoa Puffs shill, is too “coo coo” for chocolate cereal to care about anyone other than his sugary master. Not all children’s cereal peddlers are in question, however. Beyond all else, Lucky seems to value his privacy, but who can blame him? What kind of life can you lead when you’re always looking over your shoulder for a pack of sugar-addled kids searching desperately for their next fix? Lucky’s elusiveness could also stem from some sort of problem with his immigration status, so speculation at this point is ultimately irrelevant. He constantly evades children who would love nothing more than to get their grubby mitts on his marshmallow charms – one of which happens to be a rainbow – with no regard for how their thievery affects Lucky’s personal life. The orientation of Lucky the Leprechaun, the elusive face of Lucky Charms, is also up for debate. In either case, you have to respect their professionalism and admire that kind of job security. It could very well be the case, however, that monitoring the acoustic levels of bowls of Rice Krispies is a demanding job, leaving little time for dating. These three elves are actually brothers, but they have been living together in bachelorhood for the better part of 76 years and haven’t been spotted with any female elves since the Great Depression. The most obvious examples are the Rice Krispies mascots, Snap, Crackle and Pop. What he and others caught up in this discussion seem to have forgotten is that cartoon characters with ambiguous sexualities have been selling cereal for decades.
Stevenson also mentions that advertisements featuring gay characters are extremely rare, especially on mainstream television, which would make the Progressive ad unique. “But if people interpret it that way, it's fine with us." "The ad was not written specifically to be gay,” Bloomenkranz told Stevenson. Though these points are far from conclusive, a short interview with Progressive's chief marketing officer, Larry Bloomenkranz, offered some clarity. The clincher: The shorter guy appears to be wearing a rainbow T-shirt beneath his blazer.” When the clerk asks if money's been tight, she looks back and forth between the two guys as though she's assuming they're a joint entity. Something in the way the men look at each other-close together, face-to-face-suggests they're not just hetero buddies. So why has the seemingly pedestrian commercial piqued the interest of so many unoccupied Web surfers? Is it because the taller character cruelly flaunts his newly acquired timepiece in front of its destitute former owner? Could an actor’s off-screen scandal be tarnishing Progressive’s reputation? Could it be people’s well-documented fascination with Flo, the brightly lipsticked Progressive pitchwoman?
The taller man tells them this is no longer an option, because the watch is not for sale.
The clerk, Flo, tells him that with Progressive, he should be able to save enough money to at least buy his watch back. The shorter of the two tells the perpetually perky clerk that because finances are so tight, he’s had to sell his watch – which the taller gentleman proudly displays – and he’d like to save money on insurance. The advertisement at the center of this minor controversy shows two well-dressed men as they enter the fictional Progressive auto insurance store. Reactions to a recent Progressive car insurance commercial have clogged many of the Internet’s various tubes and set the so-called blogosphere afire.
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