The Sims Social is partnering with Progressive Insurance to incorporate their first branded quest into the online simulation game. Players will complete a series of tasks for Flo, Progressive’s always chipper pitchperson, and will be rewarded for their efforts with an energy boosting unicorn.

When you spend over $900 million on advertising, you better make sure your creative is top notch. Fortunately for Geico, they’re not just outspending the competition, they’re also making a lasting impression on consumers with multiple ad campaigns ranging from The Gecko, Maxwell the Pig, and even a guinea pig crew team. Geico’s clever ad campaigns and strong approach to brand building made it the only insurance company to secure a spot on CBS MoneyWatch’s recent list of “10 Companies with Insanely Great Marketing.”

Over the past decade, the amount of money spent on insurance advertising has ballooned from $1.6 billion to more than $5 billion. As a result of this increased spending, television commercials for auto insurance have become more pervasive and seem to have taken over the airwaves. As Jeff Charney, the chief marketing officer for Progressive put it, “It's an arms race, and the ones with the best content will win.”

The Service Industry Advertising Awards took place a couple weeks ago, and AAA Washington’s in house creative team cleaned up. This year marked the ninth time these awards have been handed out, and nearly 2,000 entries were submitted for consideration in 27 different categories. Among the 12 awards earned by AAA Washington, the company took home Best of Show for its “There’s Only One” radio campaign.

Not counting the American Family Insurance spot that aired after the game was already over, MetLife was the lone insurance company willing to shell out the estimated $3.5 million for a 30 second ad during yesterday’s Super Bowl. In addition to the usual Peanuts crew (a MetLife advertising staple since 1985), the commercial also featured an impressive cast of well-known cartoon characters including He-Man, Mr. Magoo, Scooby Doo and the gang, The Jetsons, and countless others. 

Today is National Signing Day, and that might not mean a lot to the casual sports fan, but for die hard college football enthusiasts it’s a pretty big deal. Last year, CBS’ network of college sites produced 2 million unique visitors from the one day event in which top high school recruits solidify their commitment to various colleges across the country.

Maxwell the pig has come back with a vengeance, and the Geico spokespig that first squealed his way into America’s hearts back in 2010 continues to be just as polarizing as ever. Unlike his more prolific Gecko counterpart, Maxwell the pig has only appeared in two commercials, the second of which premiered a little over a month ago and features the pin wheel toting pig on a zip-line promoting the new Geico mobile app.

According to Ace Metrix, a California based company that monitors ad performance, the top rated insurance ad of 2011 was State Farm’s September 11^th Tribute that featured a group of children singing to New York firefighters. The extremely subtle ad ran over the weekend of September 11^th and didn’t feature any mention of State Farm until the very end of the commercial.