Celebrity Net Worth estimates that all of her work with Progressive has earned Stephanie Courtney a cool $6 million. It's also believed that she currently earns $2 million a year through the company. If that number surprises you, it shouldn't. After all, characters like Courtney's Flo usually become icons embedded within the cultural conscious — it's difficult to even imagine a Progressive commercial without Flo in it.
Bill Cowen, PR program director at Villanova University, explained to the Daily Beast that icons like Flo are important to many of us. "She gives us a break from the day-to-day news — and there's not a lot of good news out there. Anything that gives us a moment to make us laugh, make us smile... That really resonates."
He goes on to say that many people even form a strong attachment to characters, whether they're from TV shows or commercials, adding, "I think we attach ourselves to her, to characters like that, whether it's characters in an ad or characters in a sitcom."
