Mara is the character everybody likes to hate, the one who makes you wish to attain via the display screen and shake some sense into her. However who’s she actually? And why has she change into the goal of a lot vitriol?
Mara is a fictional character performed by comic Natalie Palamides in a sequence of Progressive Insurance coverage commercials. Palamides is a proficient actress and comic, recognized for her work on exhibits like Nate: A One Man Present and The Powerpuff Ladies. Nevertheless it’s her portrayal of Mara that has made her a family identify – for higher or worse.
Whereas Palamides’ dedication to the bit is plain, not everyone seems to be gained over by her character’s shtick. A fast scroll via social media reveals a sea of anti-Mara sentiment, with viewers decrying her as “annoying”, “irritating”, and “the worst.”
What makes Mara so annoying?
Nicely, for starters, she’s annoying. She’s the form of one that talks too loudly on the telephone in public, cuts in line on the grocery retailer, and all the time appears to have a snide remark able to go. It may very well be argued that in a world already oversaturated with advertisements, a personality designed to be deliberately abrasive was all the time going to rub some individuals the mistaken method. There’s additionally the truth that insurance coverage is hardly essentially the most thrilling of matters, so any makes an attempt to liven it up with wacky characters like Mara are sure to really feel a bit pressured.
Others see Mara as a symptom of a bigger drawback in promoting: The tendency to create characters which might be extra irritating than endearing. From the Geico Gecko to Flo from Progressive (who, let’s be sincere, is barely barely much less annoying than Mara), insurance coverage mascots appear to be in a race to see who will be essentially the most grating.
So, you may make the case that the sturdy reactions Mara elicits are precisely what Progressive was going for. In any case, in a crowded promoting panorama, typically being memorable is extra necessary than being preferred. And if the numerous “I hate Mara” posts and memes are any indication, she’s definitely achieved that.
After all, there’s additionally the argument that Mara is only a fictional character and that getting labored up over her is a waste of time and power. It’s not like she’s an actual one that can really damage us…besides possibly by convincing us to change to Progressive after which subjecting us to extra of her commercials.
On the finish of the day, whether or not you’re keen on her or hate her, it’s important to give props to Palamides for totally embodying such a polarizing character. It takes guts to enroll to be the face of a nationwide advert marketing campaign realizing full properly {that a} good chunk of the inhabitants will most likely find yourself despising you. However hey, as they are saying in showbiz, there’s no such factor as unhealthy publicity, proper?