First there were the clever little pay-attention ads with the gecko. Geco, Gecko. Get it? Pretty soon a company you may not have heard of was a company you couldn't help but have heard of.
Did this increase Geico's business? I'm guessing it did.
Then there were the cave men...
Not my favorites of all time, but reasonably well done, if you overlook the connection.
Geico. Cavemen. Get it?
Well, no.
And they were still running the gecko ads all along, were they not?
Now there are the retro ads - some in black and white.
Chatty Cathy dolls. Beverly Hillbillies. Cabbage Patch Kids.
And the greeting card for Dear Old Mom. Is that a Geico ad, too?
I don't get it.
Maybe it's just me, and this is way too much for my feeble little beebee brain to take in, but I find these ads a real mish-mosh.
Maybe if, like the cavemen ads, they were somewhat thematic, I would like them better.
Kids toys of the 50s/60s: Chatty Cathy. Mr. Machine. Tony the Pony.
B&W TV Shows: Beverly Hillbillies, Mr Ed, F-Troop.
Cabbage Patch Kids: Why stop with Ben Winkler? Weren't millions of CPK's with unique identities "born" in the 80s? (Arrabelle Louise. Destiny Maude. Gilbert Anton....)
Plus they're still running the gecko ads. (Don't know about the cavemen.)
I get that Geico wants to be known for their clever ads, but this current suite, I think, misses the mark in terms of how well they work together.
The good news is that, now that baseball season is over - having ended in an entirely satisfying way for those of use who live (and die) in Red Sox Nation - I will be watching far less ad-addled television.
Come April, who knows what Geico will be up to. I just hope it hangs together better than the current batch.
2 comments:
I've had the same reaction. Methinks their core message is getting lost in all that disconnected creativity.
It would be interesting to ask people if they can name the company that are doing all these ads. I'd bet pretty much everyone could tie the gecko to Geico; smaller number for the cavemen...and then the number would dwindle from there for the others.
I find each of the commercial creative on their own - but collectively confusing in terms in creating and maintaining awareness.
Speaking as an agency "creative" I agree with both of you. Seems all over the lot, with three very different appeals. Even more, it seems to be that the core message isn't the RIGHT one. I get the gecko for name association. As for cavemen ("So simple....) I'm not sure that complexity is what's keeping most people from an on-line insurance provider.And, while it's fun to watch retro stuff, the Chatty Cathy is more creepy than convincing. I'm all for creative, of course--but build it around a meaningful strategy, please.
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