The Discover
“Frog Protection” spot is apparently quite popular with TV viewers, so I
thought it might be fun for Discover to extend it into a campaign, using Kermit
the Frog (and Miss Piggy) from the Muppets.
In the first of
these ads, the guy from the current “Frog Protection” ad is talking to himself
on the phone, and the credit card customer service representative asks his cardholder
doppelganger/alter ego: “Oh, Frog Protection. Why do you need
Frog Protection?” And the cardholder guy says: “Well…” and we dissolve into a
flashback showing how the villainous Kermit the Frog lookalike character,
Constantine (from Muppets Most Wanted), stole his identity, and it got
him arrested and ruined his credit, and so he wants to be protected from
criminal frog fraudsters from now on.
Then, in the next
ad, we could see Kermit the Frog, and he is threatened by a violent ring of
villainous credit card forgers and identity thieves, but along comes Miss Piggy
and she Karate chops the villains and sends them scampering away, running for
their lives. Then the announcer says that Discover’s fraud protection is as
effective as Miss Piggy’s frog protection in protecting you from credit card
fraud.
Then, after these
and a few more ads, Kermit the Frog, a very well-loved and highly trusted
character I think, could become the ad mascot for Discover’s fraud protection
service, and Miss Piggy could be the frog protection enforcer mascot, much in
the same way the Peanuts characters are the ad mascots for MetLife Insurance.
It’s a shame
nobody thought of this earlier to tie it in to the release of Muppets Most
Wanted.
Here’s Discover’s
original “Frog Protection” commercial:
(BTW: I don’t
think the Discover “Frog Protection” ad works well within the confines of the
“We treat you like you’d treat you” campaign, because nobody but a crazy person
would actually argue with themselves over the misunderstanding of the words
“frog” and “fraud”. But as a standalone ad without that campaign slogan foisted
upon it, or extended into its own campaign, it’s pretty fun, and apparently a
lot of people like it for its affable silliness.)
