Everybody loves sitcoms. “Friends.” “Seinfeld.” “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.” No matter your taste, there’s a sitcom for you. And advertisers have noticed.

Some recent ad campaigns have borrowed from this well-established TV show format. Most notably, Progressive and Wendy’s. In both instances, groups of characters appear across multiple spots “working” at the respective companies, constantly stumbling into knee-slapping shenanigans.

Familiar-ish Faces

If you watch as much TV as we do, you might even know a few of their names, mentioned in dialogue across the ad campaigns. What’s particularly interesting is that the characters noticeably fall into the same archetypes as their sitcom cousins.

Advertising Sitcom Archetypes: The Dork

There’s Jamie from Progressive, a loveable, slightly skinny and incredibly nerdy, comic relief. And then there’s Tyler, who works at Wendy’s and matches Jamie’s description. If you described one of these people to a forensic artist, it’s very possible that the other would get arrested.

Advertising Sitcom Archetypes: The Wisecracker

Check out Mara from Progressive. With her deadpan delivery, she acts as the “straight man,” reacting to all the others’ ridiculous behavior. Kathryn at Wendy’s serves the same purpose. And if they seem familiar, it’s probably because they’re both just April from “Parks and Recreation.” The actress Wendy’s cast even looks like Aubrey Plaza.

Advertising Sitcom Archetypes: The Goofball

Toby from Wendy’s doesn’t have a clear doppelgänger in the Progressive commercials. The prevailing theory around Mad Genius is that he was included to be a “village idiot.” Recently, however, they’ve been turning him—particularly on mobile ads—into Tim Robinson, who’s had countless clips from his show, “I Think You Should Leave,” become memes. It’s only a matter of time until Progressive introduces their own goofball…

Why Is This Happening?

Advertising, just like any industry, goes through trends. The continued sitcomitization of brands is a pretty strong indicator that it works. The commercials are funny. And they live in your mind rent-free, even if you don’t remember Wendy’s has a new pretzel-bunned Baconator.

These efforts also create an opportunity for viewers to grow attached to the characters. Several Mad Genius employees love Jamie from Progressive. We just can’t get enough of this silly little dude. We’re not ashamed to admit that we get excited when a Progressive commercial comes on, and we realize it’s one we haven’t seen before. What whimsy awaits this time?

WWMGD (What Would Mad Genius Do?)

We love telling engaging stories for top-notch brands. So, yeah, we’re all in on this idea. Let’s make a sitcommercial.

One thing we might tweak is the use of similar character archetypes. There’s a fine line between homage and plagiarism—we’d prefer something wholly unique that tells our client’s story in an engaging, original way.

If you’ve dreamt of telling your own series of seasonally thirty-second spots, let’s chat! Or, if you’re just curious what you and Mad Genius could do as a team, let’s chat about that! Either way, schedule an appointment using the calendar below, and let’s start plotting together.