Since March 2019, Liberty Mutual has had success with its viral LiMu Emu and Doug commercials. The commercials show the adventures of an emu who wants to help customers save money on car insurance and his partner, a human named Doug. LiMu Emu and Doug wear matching uniforms, complete with sunglasses.
While the LiMu Emu has naturally been the focal point of the commercials, Doug deserves credit for what he brings to them as well.
After his run with this series, Hoffman received a call from his agent. Hoffman had done commercial work previously, but he wanted to make sure that this role would be funny. It turned out that he was the perfect man for the role, and David has been Doug ever since.
David Hoffman says that he has never been recognized as Doug in real life. The sunglasses-wearing character looks quite different than how Hoffman usually looks.
Hoffman's humor fits LiMu Emu and Doug
Hoffman describes his type of humor as "Absurd Realism," and he gets to show just that in the Liberty Mutual commercials. The idea of a man and an emu driving around trying to save people money on car insurance is an absurd one. However, the characters in the commercials, especially Doug, treat it as though it’s perfectly normal.
David Hoffman knew exactly how he wanted the Doug character to look even before he got the part. Doug sports a large mustache, which helps create the throwback image the character is known for. This mustache was Hoffman's idea and not in the original script.
Hoffman rarely films with a real emu which adds to the surreal humor of the commercials. Most of the time, he acts on his own and has to simply pretend that the emu is with him. There are real emus in the commercials, though, with three birds sharing the role of LiMu.
Car insurance mascots help companies stand out