Meet Liberty Mutual's New Mellow Yellow Mascot

'Liberty Biberty' turns on the charm

Does “Liberty Biberty” have legs? In a literal sense, no. It’s a yellow furball with a face that hypes Liberty Mutual. No limbs required.

But in terms of charming the culture, Biberty might already be on a roll. Videos introducing the character amassed millions of views in just a few days, generating copious press coverage and social chatter.

Ad geeks and others will likely recall the “Liberty Biberty” name, coined by actor Tanner Novlan as a “flubbed line” in this classic 2019 commercial within a commercial.

Now, Biberty springs to life, with Novlan making a cute cameo as the pair hang out in a bar:

Next, Biberty makes an unscheduled departure, whisked away mid-pitch by a bird of prey:

Mascots are all the rage in adland these days. And Liberty Mutual has long reveled in quirky brand personalities like Limu Emu and Doug. So, this excursion feels unforced, and the callback to past campaigns adds a pleasingly meta vibe.

Here, Rob McQueen and Nicholas Bauman, GCDs at creative agency Bandits & Friends, take us inside the campaign:

How’d this approach come about?

Rob McQueen and Nicholas Bauman: When the chance came to create the brand’s next iconic character, we freaked! This was one of those classic briefs that a kid would dream up.

The phrase “Liberty Biberty” … over the years, it’s wormed its way into people’s brains and straight into culture at large. This meaningless phrase took on a life of its own in the world. So to own it for Liberty Mutual, we took our phrase and transformed it into a a new spokescharacter.

When viewers see him, whats their takeaway about the brand?

Liberty Biberty wasn’t about inventing something entirely new. It was about unearthing the opportunity and potential that was hiding in plain sight—the strategic insight that the best insurance gives people a feeling of confidence, relief and feeling great.

And he’s a practical effect, correct?

When it came time to actually create Biberty, it was truly equal parts fun, terrifying, exciting and surreal. There weren’t any rules or preconceived ideas of what a “Liberty Biberty” was. But we knew we wanted Biberty to be real. So, we skipped the CGI and AI and decided we needed something that people could actually touch and interact with. Something that could exist in the real world.

To make this really real, we partnered with the legendary Jim Henson Creature Shop. They helped turn our dreams into this little entity that could move and emote. And then we found the perfect puppeteer and voice artist, Grant Baciocco, to bring him to life.

Bib’s personality seems especially pleasant. Brand-focused, but humble.

We were lucky enough to work with Harold Einstein and Dummy Films on these spots. And frankly, we couldn’t have done it without him. Harold saw our vision and greatly helped define Biberty’s tone, wit and overall take on the world around him throughout the campaign.

Any anecdotes from filming?

On set, Harold created a really fun space where we were able to keep riffing and throwing out adlibs to make sure we got the best possible beats. Having a puppet on hand also helped to keep the shoot goofy and relaxed so we could figure out who this fuzzball really was.