Dr. Rick Brings the Burn as First Brand Mascot on The Hot Ones

A young homeowner suffering from parentamorphosis would likely start spouting arcane Scoville data as a wing-eating guest on The Hot Ones, all while making lame jokes about being “cool as a cucumber.”

Dr. Rick will do no such thing.

The longtime spokesman for Progressive Insurance, played by actor-comedian Bill Glass, takes a seat today opposite Sean Evans as the first brand mascot to submit to the show’s specific kind of culinary torture.

But the character, in trademark Dr. Rick fashion, gives as good as he gets. With his clinician’s eye and deadpan humor, he analyzes Evans with Rorschach tests and judges his wardrobe for signs of dad energy. 

Spoiler: the cardigan-wearing, thermostat-monitoring Evans suffers from the common ailment of turning into his folks after buying his first house—the textbook definition of parentamorphosis.

Progressive sponsors the branded content piece—which serves as a companion to the latest episode of the popular digital series—continuing its ongoing strategy of embedding the character into pop culture scenarios. 

Taking the faux therapist out of traditional advertising is in line with Progressive’s mandate to be “more consumer and culturally oriented,” according to Sade Balogun, senior business leader of brand experience.

The Hot Ones tie-in “provides a powerful way for us to open the aperture of how consumers see and interact with the brand,” Balogun told ADWEEK, noting that the insurance carrier will “continue to make these strategic investments in reaching new audiences with culturally and contextually relevant messages.”

Dr. Rick on the road

Today’s branded entertainment follows a July 4th appearance on Good Morning America, where Dr. Rick chatted with meteorologist Ginger Zee. His tips on how to host backyard barbecues and summer parties included ditching the punny aprons and stifling the weather observations.

Also this summer, Dr. Rick was at the center of a Progressive campaign about seasonal travel. “Un-Becoming Your Parents in Paris” flirted with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, drifting off the hype without having a direct link to the global sporting event. It included several firsts for the brand, such as a partnership with travel guru Rick Steves, out-of-home ads in major city airports, and a vending machine at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport stocked with free copies of the self-help book Dr. Rick Will See You Now.

An A-list lineup

First We Feast’s The Hot Ones has made its mark via Evans’ strong interviewing skills and a stellar celebrity lineup, with episodes that often go viral. It has racked up more than 3 billion views over its lifespan, and owner BuzzFeed is reportedly in talks with Netflix for custom-created specials on the streaming platform.

Among the A-listers recently eating ridiculously spicy chicken wings with Evans: Chris Hemsworth, Heidi Klum, Sabrina Carpenter, SZA, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman. Thursday’s segment stars Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics.

The show, currently in its 25th incarnation, featured a Disney integration last season with an animated version of Donald Duck to celebrate the character’s 90th birthday. The famously hot-headed bird ate cauliflower wings in the video labeled “bonus episode,” and Mickey Mouse was on the sidelines for moral support. 

And while guests are usually in the midst of promo tours for their personal projects—for example, Reynolds and Jackman were hyping Deadpool & Wolverine this past summer—the show has not typically been a vehicle for branded content. It’s still to be determined if Dr. Rick’s cameo could signal a future opening for such deals.

Fans of the online series include members of Progressive’s in-house creative team, who proposed the idea of a brand crossover, according to Balogun.

“The comedy in flipping the script on Sean is that Dr. Rick is our own sort of expert provocateur who asks probing questions,” Balogun said.

Filming day was a low-key love fest, she said, with Glass and Evans seeming “a little starstruck” by each other, while the crew dove into the mettle-testing food challenge. “After we wrapped shooting, many of the team on set had the opportunity to try ‘the last dab’ sauce, and I’ll say this, it’s not for the weak.”

The new mini-episode of The Hot Ones—with a well-placed plug for Dr. Rick Will See You Now—will air on First We Feast’s YouTube channel, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Progressive will distribute the video on its social and digital platforms, with its media buy on First We Feast adding the content to all existing Hot Ones episodes on YouTube through October.