...
By Suzanne Blake
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A protest outside an insurance company’s headquarters would often suggest a dispute over premiums or claims. But when dozens of people gathered outside Liberty Mutual’s Boston headquarters on Sunday, their grievance was over something more unusual: Liberty’s mascot.
Liberty Biberty, the insurer’s bright-yellow puppet mascot, has inspired a surprisingly passionate anti-fan base.
The demonstration grew out of videos by 19-year-old YouTuber Connor Harvey, whose announcement of the protest received more than 600,000 views.
Read More on Business
Protesters subsequently appeared with anti-Biberty signs, while at least one counter-protester arrived dressed as the mascot.
The backlash might look like an advertising nightmare, but experts say getting consumers sufficiently invested in an insurance character that they organize a real-world protest against it is evidence of something else good for the company: They will clearly be remembered.
“Liberty Mutual has achieved what most brands spend fortunes chasing: everyone knows the character and everyone’s talking about it,” Gerhard Sagat, the founder of Elevate Growth Solutions, told Newsweek. “The challenge now is turning that notoriety into affection, and that takes smarter creativity, not just more airtime.”
Why It Matters
Insurers spend decades trying to get people to remember them from their commercials.
From GEICO’s Gecko and Progressive’s Flo to Allstate’s Mayhem, State Farm’s Jake and Liberty Mutual’s LiMu Emu and Doug, insurance advertising is unusually crowded with recurring personalities.
That's largely because of the product itself. Insurance can be complicated, and consumers interact relatively infrequently with their insurer.
The product can also be difficult to differentiate through a short advertisement, and a character gives companies a recognizable face they can carry from commercial to commercial.
"Insurance is one of the hardest categories in which to build a distinctive brand,” Vicky Bullen, the CEO of branding company Coley Porter Bell, told Newsweek. “People don't buy it because they love the product; they buy it because they need it, and often choose on price, cover and trust. Recurring characters give insurance brands something far more memorable than another promise of competitive premiums.”
...
Why Are People Protesting the Liberty Biberty Mascot?
Liberty Biberty did not begin as a puppet.
The phrase originated in a 2019 Liberty Mutual commercial in which an actor repeatedly bungled the company's name, saying "Liberty Biberty." In July 2026, the insurer turned the joke into a character: a yellow, volleyball-sized puppet wearing a Statue of Liberty crown.
It was the company's first new brand character in eight years, and Liberty Mutual said the new character was intended to complement, rather than replace, LiMu Emu and Doug.
The company rolled Biberty out across all of its television, streaming, social media and creator collaborations.
Then came the revolt.
Harvey initially floated protesting the character as a joke online. After his videos attracted a large audience, he followed through with a demonstration outside the company's headquarters. Attendees complained about everything from the mascot's appearance to the repetition of the advertisements.
Some protesters also argued that earlier insurance characters, including the GEICO Gecko, were more creative.
“Liberty Biberty is a good example of how a character can get people talking, even if some of that attention is decidedly negative,” Bullen said.
“The danger is confusing notoriety with brand affinity. Annoying people isn't necessarily a problem in advertising; being forgettable is. But if the character becomes more memorable than the brand, or the joke wears thin through sheer repetition, the strategy can start working against you.”
A Facebook group devoted to disliking Biberty also has more than 40,000 members.
Yet Liberty Mutual doesn't appear particularly alarmed.
"We're encouraged by how strongly people are engaging with him, whether they love him or feel differently," Jenna Lebel, Liberty Mutual's chief marketing officer for U.S. retail markets, told Business Insider.
Insurance Companies Using Mascots: Help or Hinder?
Insurance presents advertisers with an unusual problem.
“Insurance is a product no one wants to think about until they need it,” Karla Marie Cochran, the founder of Spotlight Strategy Group, told Newsweek.
“You can't see it, touch it, or try it on, and most policies look the same to the average person. So brands borrow personality from a character. A mascot gives an intangible, low-interest purchase a face, and repetition builds the recall that matters at the exact moment someone shops for a policy.”
Similarly to Liberty Biberty, GEICO Gecko gives consumers a recognizable character to associate with GEICO. Flo, along with Jamie and other recurring characters, provides Progressive with its own fictional world. Mayhem allows Allstate to turn the abstract concept of risk into a character who causes disasters. Meanwhile, Liberty Mutual has built an ensemble around LiMu Emu, Doug and now Biberty.
Generally, experts say the approach can work.
“To me, the love-to-hate reaction is partly because we see these characters so much. Some are annoying, and sometimes the ad is funny but I don’t see what it has to do with insurance. There are also ads that feel very ordinary or have a stupid joke that gets on your nerves after enough repeats. But you still know the company’s name,” Ali Karbalaei, head of strategy at Angarum Media, told Newsweek.
“People don’t spend all day thinking about which insurer to choose. They buy insurance when they need it, and they often get a couple of quotes from different insurers at that time. So if they remember your company, they may ask you for a quote as well. You have a chance to make a sale that you wouldn’t have had if they’d forgotten about you.”
Research company MarketCast, which said its Brand Effect platform surveys 20,000 audience members daily, examined insurance advertising shown from January 2024 through February 2025.
Among the campaigns it studied, Liberty Mutual's LiMu Emu and Doug ranked highest for ad breakthrough, messaging and branding. Allstate's Mayhem ranked highest in ad likeability and memorability, while Progressive's Flo performed strongly on message recall.
However, the repetition of a character can create annoyance, especially during sports games or other widely watched programming.
At the same time, that repetition reinforces the connection between the character and company. Insurers can reuse the same recognizable person or creature while changing the joke or story around them. Instead of asking viewers to learn a new advertising concept every time, the marketer begins with something they already recognize.
“Insurance is the most boring thing you'll ever buy until the day it's the most important, so brands need a face you can't forget,” James Buckley-Thorp, the founder and CEO of insurance startup Atlian, told Newsweek.
“A mascot does what policy wording never will: it makes you feel something. We love to hate them because they're everywhere, and that's the point. Annoyed and remembering beats charmed and forgetting.”
What Happens Next
Liberty Mutual continues to feature Biberty alongside LiMu Emu and Doug in its commercials, and the protest may even give the company additional attention.
Whether that attention eventually translates into people requesting quotes or buying policies is a separate question, but it’s clear the character has made a mark.
“Liberty Biberty has something going for it,” Taylor Wiegert, EVP of strategy at marketing agency Curiosity, told Newsweek. “The brand name is baked into the joke. Every time someone says it, Liberty gets a mention. That’s not a bug. It’s a feature.”
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines