Face it, that cute little gecko is the most interesting thing to happen to the insurance industry in, like, forever. My personal favorite is the old one where he does the robot, I don't know why, but that cracks me up.

My favorite old one was where he broke out in song (Kung Fu Fighting) on the road trip, while safely buckled into the back seat of the car.

I like the new ones too. I think my favorite new one is "Pie and Chips" <for free>. :)

The gecko is definitely the high point for insurance commercials.

The low point, for me, is for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. There is a woman who is anticipating a Mexican vacation. She's got her sombrero and her maracas, she's grooving cheesily, she looks like that secretary at work with the kitten poster that everyone mocks behind her back. Then the narrator starts talking and her touristy things start disappearing, and she starts emoting to the camera to show how upset she is, and then when the narator begins to extol the virtues of BC/BS, she hams alllll OVER the place. I still can't watch this ad all the way through.

I like the gecko a lot too, but I love the Caveman ads.

"Yeah, next time do a little research" or "I don't have much of an appetite right now."

I don't know how, but that commercial cracks me up every time, even though I've seen it many thousands of times.

Well, I can't believe I get to be the first to say it: That's Allstate, Stan. I watch every single one of those blasted commercials just to laugh at the end and yell "Stan."

Yes, I do have a life. Why do you ask?

The one where he wins employee of the month and he comes driving in his little car with the music blaring is my favorite.

Blast it. I read the old commercial thread and from now on, that's all I'm going to hear when Palmer does those commercials.

I love Geico's commercials -- it's pretty hard to miss them. I remember years ago when the guy who plays Jack from Will & Grace played a guy hitting a woman at a party. They have some good ads, but the ones where they talk about their website aren't so great.

My absolute favorite is the "Tiny House" ad. The way it begins with the annoucer and logo on the corner of the screen -- you think it's a real ad for the next reality show dujour when you see it. At first I was like, "This can't be real, it looks like a crappy show" but part of me recognized that The Swan and Who Wants To Marry A Millionare were real.

(Getting married) "You are SO awesome!" (Later, cramped in the house) "This is not awesome." You can watch it online if you miss it!

I love it when an Allstate ad with Dennis Haysbert shows up on "24" or his new show, "The Unit". I always laugh and say something about how we don't take care of our retired presidents [or super-secret forces guys] if they end up hawking insurance on tv...

But all jokes aside, Haysbert's voice is so reassuring and he has such a terrific gravitas - just enough, not too much! - that I think he's perfect for the job.

Whoa, saw an insurance ad (can't recall name of company) with Hal Linden. I did a double take- almost did not recognize him.

Hee. Mr. Chevette and I were watching "Jarhead" this weekend, and when Dennis Haysbert shows up halfway through, we both yelled "Allstate Stan!" at the TV.

The funny thing about the Allstate commercials is that there's a recent new batch, in which they clearly got to Haysbert and told him that people are mocking his delivery and he better enunciate the damn D -- and so now he does, but he's still giving the whole sentence the wrong timing and intonation, with a comma after "Allstate" and the last word de-emphasized. So now it sounds like "That's Allstate, Stan. Duh."

I heard somebody else say the line on TV (can't remember who), and he got it exactly right, so I know I'm not asking the impossible.

Yep, Rinaldo, I heard it too- it's the one where he's standing on the side of the road talking about how we shouldn't be better drivers only when we see a police officer nearby. We cracked up when we heard that stand-uh pronounciation. (Mrs. Bb never heard the "Allstate, Stan" line the way I did and thought I was the only one, so this new version added a little credence to my argument.)

I know that I'm being way too sensitive, but there is on Nationwide insurance commercial that bothers me. It's the one where the woman wins the lottery and then in her celebration, she runs her car into the landscaping truck. What bothers me about this commerical is that one she's told that she's covered, she back to being excited about winning. It's almost saying that "Hey, you're insured!! Drive as insanely as you feel!". Bah! I guess dodging all the drivers on their cell phones has gotten to me.

Has anyone seen the ads for Geico's motorcycle insurance? It's so odd that Geico makes such upscale ads for their auto insurance, but seem to have hired high school students for their cycle insurance. It's totally on a par with the ads for your local furniture store. Maybe they gave the contract to the Cavemen? Seriously, total crap. It's jarringly bad.

What's weird is that the Gecko started out hating Geico and all the wrong numbers he was getting because of it. Then he suddenly was revealed to be working for the company. It took me a while to get past that, but now I love them again.

OK, maybe somebody can help me with this. You know the insurance commercial with a sequence of film clips that involve the word "more"? It starts with a scene from "Oliver!" in which the kid asks for more, and includes clips from "The Adventures of Robin Hood," a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and Kathy Bates in "Fried Green Tomatoes." But it bugs me that I can't identify the other movie clips -- one with a group of people at a party, and one with a kid with a big afro challenging someone to "come on back if you want some more." Can anyone tell me what movies these are from?

Yeah, yeah, I obsess about the damnedest things.

It sure beats those lean times between Kelsey's departure and the Mockney's arrival in which the CGI Gecko was silent and we had to hear the GEICO prez drone on while desperately trying (and failing) to sound witty or funny!

I think the clip with the afro guy is from Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. Great movie.

I have to say I don't like the new Gecko. he is so stiff, prim and proper. What happened to the fun loving gecko?

I love the new Gecko and his accent!

"Pie and chips. Who doesn't love pie and chips?" while trying to stay on the branch and look cool.

The Geico commercials with the gecko suddenly having this ridiculously hot British accent? Um yeah, there should be nothing sexy about lizards or car insurance. It's just wrong. Why are they doing this to me?

I'm trying to decide on my current least favorite insurance commercials. The short list:

• E-surance -- their animated ads do not, in any way, inspire confidence in their product. I should buy car insurance from the Powerpuff Girls delinquent older cousin?
• Eastwood -- Shoulda, coulda, East-woulda? Go away.
• SafeAuto -- Just shut up already.

On a more local level, Bill Blake Auto Insurance. His entire commercial is "customers" thanking him for providing them with car insurance. Isn't that his JOB?

Do they even HAVE geccos in England?!

Everyone knows Americans are suckers for the British accent and usually can't distinguish a Scottish, Irish or British accent from each other or from an Australian accent. But they sound smart...that Gecko must know what he's talking about. Listen to that accent!

A Scottish accent IS a British accent. I suspect for the latter you meant "English accent", Bb? I didn't like his new working-class accent at first, but now I'm used to it and don't mind it.

Preciosa


I love that one too! My favorite early(ish) one was where the little dude went to court to have his name legally changed so he'd stop getting phone calls for Geico. Komodo Dragon! teehee

The Geico commerical where he's all chit-chat "How's your mum?" is sooo David Brent (Ricky Gervais) it's scary!

I loved the Tiny House one...the first time I saw it I thought at first it was a real ad for a new crappy reality show...



ITA. Love the Caveman ads. I don't know why but no matter how many times I see it the Caveman who says "I don't have much of an appetite right now" makes me think of Val Kilmer. Don't ask.

Ack! Yes, Angora Deb, I meant English! That's just embarrassing, particularly since Mrs. Bb is from England!

The Tiny House fooled me more than once. Loved it.

Regarding the new Geico gecko:

I had been wondering why the little guy's accent switched from RP to East End. Am I to understand that we Americans are not expected to notice the difference?

He's a workng class gecko?

Is there an Unpopular Opinions about Commercials thread? Because the gecko and its fake accent are incredibly annoying to me!! Maybe it's a real accent, but I've never heard one even close to being that annoying except from people who think they can do a good fake accent.

I have to totally agree with cowkitty...I thought I was the only one who hated that gecko. The only Geico ad I really thought was funny was the Tiny House as other people have already said. The cavemen ad I didnt find funny at all because the first time I saw it when the "cavemen" were watching the commercial in their huge house while one of them played piano...that didnt exactly look like a cave to me, and for someone to be a caveman doesnt that mean that they have to live in a cave? I'm probably overanalyzing, but that always annoyed me the fact that they don't live in cave, they live in a huge house. And whenever I see Dennis Haysbert (sp?) I always think of Cerrano from Major League, so I get a laugh out of that.

Hee! And that Allstate will have a golf club cover give-away. Hats for Bats...Keep Bats Warm.

Reviving this thread to talk about the State Farm commercial about the woman whose State Farm-insured house is hit by a car in the night - more precisely, AT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. She raves about how she called her agent and the agent took care of everything, then the agent brags about how great State Farm agents are, even AT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, while the various tradespeople bitch about how they had to tow the car, board up the hole, etc., AT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. What? A tow truck driver having to tow at car at 2 am? Shocking!

State Farm has all these ads about their service and how great it is, even with people denigrating their own family members who sell insurance that is not State Farm. It just makes my blood boil, because State Farm is notorious for denying homeowners claims and will do anything, and in fact has secret policies specifically designed, to screw their insureds out the payments that they are entitled to under their policies. State Farm (among other insurerers) denied hurricane claims without basis (and had to back off after being sued).

I think their ads about people being in good hands by having insurance with them are just flat out false advertising.

Word to everything Ashforth said.

My elderly, disabled mother (God bless her) received some minor damage to her home after Hurricane Wilma. State Farm gave her horrible service, the extreme run-around, and then finally cut a check at much less the actual damage. My mother, saint that she is, refused to fight it or take them to court. And then, much to her horror, her next annual bill was FIVE times what she normally paid! She would gladly drop them, but no other "reputable" insurance company is taking new policies in Florida.

So whenever I see State Farm's ads, I cannot help but think words that I shouldn't type here on TWOP, even if allowed.

There's a commercial for Allstate where a car accident occurs. The people involved in the accident each get out and the spokesman says, "It's the first thing you say when you're in an accident." and the people ask each other "Are you all right?"

I'm sorry, but am I the only one half-expected the first thing to be asked was "What the *bleep* were you doing, ya moron?!" Or am I just way too cynical?

No, I thought the same thing. The few times I've been in an accident (I've been rear ended at a red light twice) I've always asked if the other person is ok, even though neither accident was my fault. Their response: "Why hell were you stopped?!" as I sheepishly point to the red light. Allstate is just really trying hard to make it seem like we are all good people when in reality I don't think that's the case anymore. So if you're cynical, then I am too and we should start a club.

Any Geico Cavemen fans? You should know about the Caveman's Crib.

The Caveman's Crib site is hysterical. Every time I think I'm tired of the GEICO cavemen, they manage to come up with a new variation on it and I start laughing all over again.

I think it's cool that Geicko commercials are now just as popular/cool as the budweiser commercials. Whoever is responsible for the Gecko/Caveman ideas needs to get awarded some serious cash.

Has anybody seen the new batch of Geico commericals? One is sort of a "True Hollywood Story" of an adult Cabbage Patch Kid. It's kind of creepy to be honest.

The Selectquote ads puzzle me. First, the weird slide show seems like an odd choice since they only show people. It seems like it would have worked just as well to let the lead putz tell the story himself rather than doing a powerpoint with a pointless narrator. Speaking of the lead putz, second, what the hell were they thinking with the dude they cast as the audience surrogate/lead? The rest of the actors are average looking, but every time they show Dan (Don? William), I have to remind myself that he's not supposed to be developmentally delayed. But, really, except for the last still, he is glassy-eyed and slack-jawed, plus he has a really odd haircut. It doesn't help that the apron they have him in is nearly identical to the ones the people in the special work programs around here wear.

Also, I totally crack up when they get to the part about the brother-in-law who died "recently" then put up a picture of a guy and kid sporting super-duper '80s hair styles. (May the imaginary b-in-law rest in peace. I'm not a monster, I swear.)

Just want to bump this thread to comment on those god-awful insurance commercials where a person is unknowingly gushing about how much money they saved with their insurance while their friend is watching a car being smashed my objects being thrown out of a second-story apartment window.

I'm guessing the car being smashed is the insurance fantards.

And I'm guessing she ain't gonna be so chipper on the phone to the claims service.

I know this one has been out for ages, but I have had quite enough of the Nationwide ad where the kid went to work with his mom at the bank and is putting every imaginable thing in the pneumatic system, letting it get hurled at the car in the drive-through, while no one does a THING! I'm a little baffled at how the cup with the pens that goes first goes through the guys back windshield and not, I don't know, into the poor guys face. Isn't he pulled up far enough? But then, everything else seems to go into his drivers door panel. Must be a physics thing. What pisses me off just as much as the fact that no one stops the kid, is that the driver just sits there calling his insurance company while his car is being pummeled by sandwiches, coins, etc. Sure, your insurance will pay for it, but at the unpredictable way things are flying out of there, are you 100% confident that the next thing the kids sends your way is NOT going to be a letter opener that could go right for your carotid? The damage has not affected the car's ability to MOVE FORWARD! This guy is obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Grr. It grates. And its stupid music. Every time I hear those first few piano notes, I lunge for the remote.

Yeah I did a double take on that one too. Plus the main guy in the commercial, they say his life is about his family business and his young son, but the guy looks old enough to be the kid's grandfather.

How about the old guy who wakes up in the middle of night and checks on the "kids", then goes to the kitchen and has a conversation with wife re insurance (life, I assume). Seems a little old to have young kids, wife isn't the trophy wife that is featured in most Dec-June marriages.

That one bugs me too, Froggie123. I think I posted about it in the "Commercials That Make You Scratch Your Head" topic. I figured at their age, with those little kids, they probably are having nightmares about life insurance.

I'm confused about one of the current Allstate® ads. The family has just lost a suit due to 'vehicular negligence' on the part of their teen son. The opposing lawyer monotones that, although the family doesn't have the cash to pay up, he'll find it in their investments, the kid's college fund, or whatever. Mom says, "Can he do that?" and her lawyer solemnly affirms that he can.

Then Dennis Haysbert assures us that the family wouldn't be in that spot if they had bought lots and lots of Allstate insurance.

Gee, it seems to me that they wouldn't be in that spot if their wild kid didn't go careening through the streets in a car, committing vehicular negligence, WTF that is. Am I missing something in the logic here? <That's a rhetorical question.>

That commercial bugs me because they make it seem inevitable that everyone is going to run over someone at some point or something.