# Did she just shoot her kids? (Progressive Insurance ad) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2007, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790 "2007-07-31T07:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/1 "2007-07-31T07:38:19Z")
I’m talking about [this ad.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHRwwOKvdTQ) In all honesty, I laugh every time I see it. The thought that some twisted ad man created a spot in which a frustrated mother makes an example of one of her kids makes me giggle with morbid joy. For those who can’t view it right now, maybe a quick paraphrasing will jog your memory: > [@](#): > > A Progressive guy is at the front door of a house whose mother looks exhausted and whose kids are jumping around in the background, hitting each other with toys. > > Progressive Guy: I took care of all this nonsense for you, etc. etc. etc. > > Exhausted Mom: Thanks so much. I need all the help I can get with these little hellions running around. > > PG: No problem. > > [EM shuts door] > > EM (muffled by closed door): Who wants to be quiet?!? > > _bang!_ > > [PG, walking away from front door, is visibly startled by the noise] Now, of \*course \*that’s not what happens. There must be some simple explanation that I’m overlooking. What do _you_ think happens after she shuts the door and asks her kids to be quiet? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/2 "2007-07-31T07:42:27Z")
[Previous thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=427164&highlight=Progressive+Insurance) I have no opinion other than that I’ve seen the ad multiple times and homicide had never occurred to me until I read discussions about it here. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/3 "2007-07-31T08:02:40Z")
I’ve read the previous thread and paid attention to the commercial since then. It always sounds like rowdy kids crashing into/breaking something to me. Also, and this is entirely random, does anybody have visions of **House** when the mom says, “Not in the abdomen, Cameron.”? Or am I just weird? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/4 "2007-07-31T08:15:39Z")
I don’t know that the two are mutually exclusive. _Wink_ ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/5 "2007-07-31T08:27:24Z")
I just thought she can’t control the kids. She asks them to be quiet and they keep making noise. The kids make all kinds of noise throughout the ad; I never noticed anything that sounded like a gunshot. I’ll have to listen for that if it’s on again. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/6 "2007-07-31T08:30:16Z")
Oh, I didn’t notice your link before. Yeah, I can see how it kind of sounds like a gunshot, but that never even occurred to me before. Probably supposed to be the kids knocking something over. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/7 "2007-07-31T12:57:34Z")
I thought it was the lamp, which is clearly visible in the background, breaking. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/8 "2007-07-31T13:40:56Z")
Anybody else think this Mom is totally cute? ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-she-just-shoot-her-kids-progressive-insurance-ad/413790/9 "2007-07-31T15:37:42Z")
Aw rats. Of _course_ there’s another thread. If the mods could find the time to put my sorry thread out of its misery, that would be fine.