Ad Icon to Sitcom Star

Geico is known for their quirky spots featuring characters and actors that don’t fit into the normal mold of advertising. For example, the gecko, which at first was mad that people would call him looking for Geico, but in recent years has become the “spokes-gecko” for the brand. The gecko is perhaps the most notable character, but coming up quickly on the gecko is the Geico Cavemen. The popularity of the Cavemen has spurred a deal with ABC to create a sitcom based on the characters from the commercial.

:: Geico Cavemen: The Beginning


Three years ago, the first cavemen spot broke featuring “real” cavemen (played by Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ben Weber, and Jon Lehr) acting in a commercial for Geico. The tagline of “so easy a caveman can do it” insults the cavemen actors and they storm out. A follow up commercial was released with the two insulted cavemen, dressed in collard shirts and blazers sitting in a restaurant with the Geico announcer as he apologizes for the commercial— “We had no idea you guys were still around.” The apology was not enough, one caveman has “lost his appetite” and the other orders the now famous “roast duck with the mango salsa”; one more way of sticking it to the man.

Some advertising critics thought that this was a “one-note joke”, but the cavemen have become a phenomenon. Each new commercial takes the viewer deeper in to the life and world of this “hyper-sensitive and hyper self-involved caveman” (Ad Week). The ads are smart and quick witted with snarky dialogue and smart acting. Much of the time, the funniest part of the commercial is the caveman’s silent reaction to a new Geico ad.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Warren Buffet said that the company spent $631 million on ads last year and the Wall Street Journal says that for 2007 that amount will rise by 20%. With this kind of money backing the ads and consumers creating a stir with their own content, the cavemen have achieved celebrity status.

:: The Move to Sitcom

The big news for the cavemen is a new sitcom that will be based on the characters from the Geico commercials. The new project titled “Cavemen” will “focus on a trio of prehistoric characters who battle prejudice in modern-day Atlanta” (Wall Street Journal). The show was shopped around to the various networks, and ABC picked it up and will be paying for the pilot episode. This decision highlights the “blurring line between advertising and entertainment” and also shows ABC’s desperation at launching a winning sitcom. At the moment, there is no script and no cast ready for the show, but it has been noted that Geico will have no creative input or control on the project. Ted Ward, Geico’s VP of marketing is fine with this decision saying, “We sell car insurance; we don’t make TV shows” but Geico looks forward to have this opportunity for a brand extension (Wall Street Journal). In the event that the sitcom does take off, it is unclear at this time whether Geico will continue the cavemen commercials, which could be good news for the gecko.

" The risk is having the
sitcom come off as an
extended commercial."
-Ad Age

:: Been There, Done That
This move of the caveman character out of the commercial and into a sitcom is not a new endeavor. In the late 90s, Baby Bob, “a precocious talking infant who shilled for dot-coms” got his own sitcom on CBS in 2002, but was killed after only nine episodes (Ad Age). The potential for this sitcom to become popular and mainstream is up in the air. Because its roots are in advertising “the upside is that the character gets well-known and resonates more” says Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys. But the fact that the character is already known as being from a commercial, the risk is pushing an “advertising icon” into the public and having the sitcom come off as an extended commercial (Ad Age).

:: In Love and Backlash
Response to the news of the cavemen getting their own show has been mixed. Most advertising editors and bloggers do not love the idea of the spots getting more time on air:

"At first I found the commercials entertaining (though not very informative), but I don’t think I could handle a television show rooted in something developed by an advertising agency."
—Blogger by the name of Flexo from ConsumerismCommentary.com

“[Geico] could wear out the advertising idea due to oversaturation…Like anything, ads eventually lose their surprise ... Doing a TV show will accelerate that process and shave life off the campaign so it might not be worth it.”
—John Bond of Kirshenbaum Bond and Partners quoted on CNNmoney.com

“There is no way to really predict how the new ’Cavemen’ series will turn out. It absolutely represents a shift in the advertising for Geico, for if the series does not do well, the gecko could soon be the reigning Geico spokesman once again. Seeing this trend of the “advertising icon” becoming enough of a character to support their own program, it has led some others to think, who’s next? Check out AdWeek’s ’Just Asking’ and see what commercial characters advertisers and marketers think should be the next big TV idea.” —Just Asking from AdWeek

Melanie Moser, Information Coordinator
Cheil Communications New Jersey