GEICO, which spent $561 million in advertising in 2008 and $473 million through October 2009, has set aside the cavemen, the gecko and Kash, the googly-eyed pile of money, to introduce a new ad campaign entitled, "Rhetorical Questions."
The new ads spotlight GEICO’s claim that car owners can reap great savings by purchasing car insurance from them. In place of the well-known mascots is actor Mike McGlone (from “The Brothers McMullen”), who plays a reporter who asks, "Could switching to GEICO save you 15 percent or more on car insurance?" and follows it up with rhetorical questions such as: "Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?" and "Did The Waltons take way too long to say goodnight?"
But GEICO’s other popular mascots aren’t going anywhere.
"GEICO runs several story lines at one time, and
that’s because there are different messages. In fact, they’ve had
success with the multiple story lines," Steve Bassett told Brandweek. Bassett is the creative director of The Martin Agency, the ad agency responsible for the new campaign.
GEICO was listed by collision repairers as the second worst offender of refusing to pay for OEM parts if a customer objects to aftermarket crash parts, according to the 2009 BodyShop Business Industry Profile. In the same Industry Profile, repairers ranked GEICO the fourth worst insurer to work with out of 10 insurers listed. The ads touting savings are often irksome to repairers, some of whom believe the "savings" are coming at the expense of body shops’ profits.
More information:
• Read the full story in Brandweek
• Minnesota DOI Fines GEICO $30,000 for Underpayment of Claims
• California DOI Charges GEICO With Steering and Underpayment
