All You Need to Know About Eagle Insurance
Advertising
The first Eagle Insurance television spot was created in 1993 by RDR Productions of Glenview, Illinois. The commercial shows two young women riding in an automobile when they hear a loud thud from the roof. In spite of having no vehicle insurance, Eagle Man appears and says, “I have something for you!” He squats down and inexplicably lays an oversized egg, out of which a puppet hatches. The chick presents a sheet of paper listing Eagle Insurance’s vehicle insurance rates, and the women exclaim together, “Ohhh, look at those low rates.” An announcer explains Eagle Insurance’s services in detail.
It quickly became a cult-following in the Chicago area, and RDR responded with a series of sequels. It featured a cameo by radio personality Erich “Mancow” Muller, a fan of the original spot, replacing Eagle Man with Eagle Woman. These advertisements have all been dubbed in Spanish. In addition, a radio advertisement featuring the “Eagle Man Rap” aired for several years in the Chicago area. To depict Eagle Man’s often-mentioned egg-laying scene, RDR recently produced an updated version of the original television spot incorporating CGI effects.
Commercials featuring Eagle Man continue to arouse Chicagoans’ interest. A reference to the commercial frequently appears in Chicago newspapers and magazines, and they were awarded the “Fool of the Year” award at the grand opening of Chicago’s Noble Fool Theater in 2002. Even outside Chicago, the commercials have appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, The Soup, and in E!!! ‘s Wildest TV Commercial Moments, and in a BBC special about American advertising. In 2007, Maxim Online named the spots among the “crappiest commercials ever.”
A segment titled “Slogans Gone Wrong” featured the commercial among numerous national brand TV campaigns that had long since been forgotten on ABC News’ Nightline on March 1, 2David Wechsler, the director and producer of the commercials, said, “Obviously, we succeeded beyond our dreams. […] I have produced and directed some top flight projects for literally hundreds of clients, but among those who know me personally, I am always known for ‘I’ve got something for you’.” To promote their 2019 Chicago Blackhawks Annual summer convention, the Blackhawks created a parody of the original Eagleman commercial in 4:3 SD.
