page_title: GEICO advertising campaigns
section_title: The GEICO Gecko
hierarchical_section_title: GEICO advertising campaigns / The GEICO Gecko
caption_attribution_description: English: Geico advertisement on car in Florida
context_page_description: GEICO advertising campaigns are known for using surreal scenarios which attempt to be humorous and satirical, often featuring distinctive characters such as the company's mascot, the GEICO gecko. The advertising strategy incorporates a saturation-level amount of print and television parody advertisements, as well as radio advertisements. A common line used by GEICO is "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance."
  In the mid-1990s, insurance company advertising was considered novel and GEICO wanted to move towards insurance as a commodity rather than through a long-term relationship with a full service agent, as was the model at No. 1 State Farm. The predominant advertising for traditional insurance companies focused on the bad events which needed insurance and GEICO believed that its target audience felt that insurance was just another necessary expense. Many of the most prominent television ad campaigns, such as the GEICO Gecko, the GEICO Cavemen, the Rhetorical Questions campaign featuring Mike McGlone, Maxwell the Pig, and the GEICO Hump Day Camel were developed by the Martin Agency, which has held the contract since 1994.
context_section_description: The company's ads sometimes focus on its reptilian mascot, the GEICO Gecko, an anthropomorphic Day Gecko, who was created by The Martin Agency, modified in November 2005 to a CGI character by Animation Director David Hulin and his team at Framestore. The gecko first appeared on August 26, 1998, during the Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors. The original commercial features the Gecko voiced by actor Kelsey Grammer who climbs onto a microphone on a podium and utters "This is my final plea: I am a gecko, not to be confused with GEICO, which could save you hundreds on car insurance. So, STOP CALLING ME!" before licking his eye. Later "wrong number" ads used Dave Kelly as the voice of the gecko. In the subsequent commercials with Jake Wood (which portray him as a representative of the company), the gecko speaks with an English Cockney accent because it would be unexpected, according to Martin Agency's Steve Bassett. In 2010s commercials, the gecko's accent is more working-class, perhaps in an effort to further "humanize" him.
  
  Steve Bassett, creative director at The Martin Agency: 
  As computer animation got better and as we got to know the character better, we did a few things. We wanted to make him a little more guy-next-door. And he looks a lot more real than he's looked before.
   
  Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former president Bill Clinton and then-Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, interviewed the GEICO Gecko in April 2013. He had since become GEICO's longest-running mascot, appearing in more than 150 commercials as of 2017. He also wrote an autobiography called “You’re Only Human”, released in 2013 by Workman.
caption: GEICO advertisement on car in Florida
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