Progressive Insurance has worked with Havas’ Arnold for nearly two decades as its lead creative agency, but the latest spot in its “Replay” campaign was created by WPP shop VMLY&R. This marks the first project done between VMLY&R and the insurance brand, according to Progressive Chief Marketing Officer Remi Kent.

The national ad, which is targeted toward football fans, features hip-hop duo Kid ’n Play and pays homage to the duo’s movie series titled “House Party.”

The ad, titled “Watch Party,” is the fourth iteration of Progressive’s “Replay” campaign launched by Arnold in October. It features a wild party in which an NFL-style replay review is used to settle a dispute between Christopher Reid, also known as “Kid,” and Christopher Martin, also known as “Play,” over a misunderstanding of the type of party “Kid” wanted to throw. 

The other spots in the campaign from Arnold share similar formats.

Originally VMLY&R was brought on to do some social and digital work on the “Replay” campaign, but that led to a larger piece of work.

“As we continue to double down on social and digital, Progressive and VMLY&R came together for the first time to help expand and elevate the Replay campaign to reach diverse audiences and help the brand continue tapping into culture that matters,” Kent said over email. “As we were ideating, we saw the opportunity to expand this idea beyond digital.

“We hope that more collaboration opportunities arise in the future,” Kent added.

Arnold is still Progressive’s lead creative agency, said Kent, who applauded the efforts of the two agencies and Progressive’s internal agency Ninety6 for their work on the campaign overall. Last January, Kent confirmed to Ad Age that Arnold had signed on for another year of working with the brand.

“We’re very proud of our ongoing and longstanding relationship with Progressive, including our work on the Replay campaign,” a spokeswoman for Arnold said.

VMLY&R—which will be merged with Wunderman Thompson to form VML in January—referred comments to the client. 

The ad was led by VMLY&R’s Chief Experience Design Officer Walter T. Geer III, who in a LinkedIn post thanked his team and Progressive.

“I can’t say how proud I am of the team for pulling this off,” Geer wrote. “This was a dream project for me and many others on my team. We all grew up watching Kid ’n Play’s movies religiously. Being able to create this idea with a client that was good enough to rock with it, and sit on set watching it all play out, was just mind-blowing.”

Kid ’n Play, which was most popular in the 1980s and 90s, was one of the first hip-hop groups to appear in an ad when it collaborated with Sprite in 1991.

Other spots in the “Replay” Campaign have featured disputes between moms, a couple and even NFL stars Von Miller and Stefon Diggs. Von Miller also makes an appearance in the “Watch Party” ad.

The new spot contains several Easter eggs, such as the appearance of actress and dancer Ashley Everett, who has been a longtime lead backup dancer for Beyoncé, and an exclusive track from trending hip hop duo Flyana Boss, “Do it Like This,” that plays in the background.

Both Reid and Martin posted the new spot on their social media, continuing the “dispute” online.

The new ad is in line with what Kent told Ad Age last year is her goal to reach more diverse and younger audiences.

“Our marketing is really effective, but I see this opportunity to resonate with a growing and diverse set of consumers—Gen Z, African American, Hispanic, Asian—there are all deep insights to be mined and really brought forward in the work that we do,” she said. “I want to build the marketing organization of the future," Kent said in a 2022 podcast.