The Thing About Motorcycles - Kremer Johnson and Progressive Insurance

Kremer/Johnson’s work has always been about more than just making images—it’s about creating narratives that leap off the screen. At first glance, their portfolio is packed with humor and razor-sharp lighting, but the deeper you look, the more you realize their true gift: distilling character, expression, and narrative into a single image. No matter the project, they thrive on storytelling.

In their campaign for Progressive Motorcycle Insurance, they needed to bring the grit and freedom of motorcycle culture to life. Without a budget for elaborate location shoots, they found a way to create the illusion of adventure through skilled pre-production, studio finesse, and an understanding of the subculture. From sunburned goggle outlines to roadkill-speckled jackets, every detail was a love letter to the kind of people who trade comfort for velocity and embrace the chaos of two wheels.

Read on for Kremer/Johnson’s behind-the-scenes look at how they pulled it off—without losing their own sanity in the process.

The problem? Money. There was no budget to jet around California, dragging a circus of talent and gear to perfect locations. But who needs a budget when you have ingenuity and a high tolerance for chaos? The plan was simple: We would roam the highways, hunting for the perfect backgrounds — those sun-bleached stretches of asphalt, those washed-out roadside haunts that scream freedom and poor life choices. We shot them, archived them, and then brought the riders into the studio to match the lighting and tone to those hand-picked American backdrops. It was an illusion so seamless you could smell the gasoline and bad decisions oozing from the images.

But the real trick wasn’t just in the visuals — it was in the details, the kind that only real riders recognize. The greasy helmet hair, the insect graveyards plastered to visors and jackets, the unmistakable shape of a beard tortured by 80-mile-an-hour winds. Even the absurdity of a goggle-shaped sunburn. These weren’t just models sitting on bikes; these were riders, baptized in exhaust fumes and highway grit, the kind of degenerates who understand that a motorcycle isn’t just transportation — it’s a high-speed rebellion against the mundane.

And that’s where Progressive wins. They know that if you understand the ride, you understand the rider. And if you understand the rider, you sure as hell know what kind of insurance they need. This wasn’t just another ad campaign — it was a testament to the subculture of lunatics who believe two wheels are always better than four.

So the next time you’re ripping down the highway, hair tangled, bugs in your teeth, and an insurance policy in your pocket that doesn’t make you want to vomit, you might just have these lunatics to thank. Progressive and the wild, unhinged beauty of motorcycle culture.

Retouching by Jeff Whitlock