Is Tanner Novlan In The Liberty Mutual Commercial As Doug's Replacement?
After a brief absence, it looks like Tanner Novlan is officially back as a co-spokesman for insurance company Liberty Mutual — and he's sharing the spotlight with Limu Emu and his partner, Doug.
Novlan's time with the company is perhaps best marked by his "Liberty Biberty" commercial. In the original ad, which debuted in 2019, Novlan plays an actor who admits he's struggling with his career, which is why Liberty Mutual is such a great option for him financially. Unfortunately, he can't say the company's name correctly, forcing him to pronounce it "Liberty Biberty." He burns through take after take, frustrating the director, until he finally manages to nail it. Perhaps that triumphant moment is what made the ad such a hit; "Liberty Biberty" entered the cultural lexicon, helping make Novlan a familiar face to TV viewers.
And now Novlan's actor character has returned to mess up more takes in a string of fresh ads. In them, Novlan interacts with his replacements as Liberty Mutual spokespeople, Limu Emu and Doug (David Reed Hoffman), two agents who often head into the field to investigate odd insurance claims. Limu Emu is ... well, a sunglasses-bearing emu, and Doug is his mustachioed partner. In the string of commercials, Doug coaches Novlan's character on the nuances of playing him when Doug learns that he's been replaced as a spokesperson. Unfortunately, the actor hasn't learned his paces since his first commercial and Novlan's neophyte bungles everything from Limu Emu's name to the company's name — again.
Tanner Novlan has a solid day job as a soap hunk
Outside of working for Liberty Mutual, Tanner Novlan is quite a busy guy with a very interesting acting past. Aside from selling insurance with the raise of an eyebrow, he's become famous for a moony romantic role and playing a tried-and-true brother.
Since becoming a regular part of Liberty Mutual's cast of characters, Tanner Novlan has begun pitching woo on "The Bold and the Beautiful" as handsome doctor John "Finn" Finnegan, a role he took up in 2020. Finn has quite the hefty soap pedigree — he's the biological son of notorious villain Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), and Finn often finds himself fighting for space from his clingy, obsessive mother. Romantically, Finn's settled into a marriage with fashion heiress and designer Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood); the couple is married but estranged at press time and shares a son.
Besides guiding Finn through his woes and joys, Novlan took part in a nine-episode stint on "Roswell, New Mexico." He portrays Gregory Manes, brother of Alex (Tyler Blackburn), the mentioned-but-never-introduced Clay, and Flint (Kiowa Gordon) Manes. Gregory ultimately defends his brothers from their alien-hunting father, Jesse (Trevor St. John).
Novlan is also no stranger to further commercial work; he's appeared in ads for Powerade, Northwestern Mutual, and Nissan Rogue. Hopefully, he'll be back to bungle the good name of Liberty Mutual for many commercials to come.