document_title: Military Assistance Advisory Group

question_text: when were the first us advisors sent to vietnam

text: Military Assistance Advisory Group

text: MAAG Indochina; MAAG Vietnam[edit]

text: In September 1950, US President Harry Truman sent the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to Vietnam to assist the French in the First Indochina War. The President claimed they were not sent as combat troops, but to supervise the use of $10 million worth of US military equipment to support the French in their effort to fight the Viet Minh forces. By 1953, aid increased dramatically to $350 million to replace old military equipment owned by the French.[2]

text: The French Army however, was reluctant to take U.S. advice, and would not allow the Vietnamese army to be trained to use the new equipment, because it went against French policy. They were supposed to not only defeat enemy forces but to solidify themselves as a colonial power, and they could not do this with a Vietnamese Army. French commanders were so reluctant to accept advice that would weaken their time-honored colonial role that they got in the way of the various attempts by the MAAG to observe where the equipment was being sent and how it was being used. Eventually the French decided to cooperate, but at that point it was too late.[2]

text: In 1954 the commanding general of French forces in Indochina, General Henri Navarre, allowed the United States to send liaison officers to Vietnamese forces. But it was too late, because of the siege and fall of Dien Bien Phu in the spring. As stated by the Geneva Accords, France was forced to surrender the northern half of Vietnam and to withdraw from South Vietnam by April 1956.[3]

text: At a conference in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 1955, between officials of the U.S. State Department and the French Minister of Overseas Affairs, it was agreed that all U.S. aid would be funneled directly to South Vietnam and that all major military responsibilities would be transferred from the French to the MAAG under the command of Lieutenant General John O'Daniel. A problem arose however, because the French Expeditionary Force had to depart from South Vietnam in April 1956 pursuant to the Accords. After the French defeat, it was renamed the MAAG Vietnam in 1955, as the United States became more deeply involved in what would come to be known as the Vietnam War.

text: The next few years saw the rise of a Communist insurgency in South Vietnam, and President Diem looked increasingly to US military assistance to strengthen his position, albeit with certain reservations. Attacks on US military advisers in Vietnam became more frequent. On October 22, 1957, MAAG Vietnam and USIS installations in Saigon were bombed, injuring US military advisers.[4] In the summer of 1959, Communist guerrillas staged an attack on a Vietnamese military base in Bien Hoa, killing and wounding several MAAG personnel.[5] During this time, American advisers were not put in high-ranking positions, and President Diem was reluctant to allow American advisers into Vietnamese tactical units. He was afraid that the United States would gain control or influence over his forces if Americans got into the ranks of the army. The first signs that his position was beginning to shift came in 1960, when the number of official US military advisers in the country was increased from 327 to 685 at the request of the South Vietnamese government.[5] By 1961, communist guerrillas were becoming stronger and more active. This increased enemy contacts in size and intensity throughout South Vietnam. At this point, Diem was under pressure from US authorities to liberalize his regime and implement reforms. Although key elements in the US administration were resisting his requests for increased military funding and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troop ceilings, MAAG Vietnam played a significant role in advocating for a greater US presence in the country.[6] Throughout this period relations between the MAAG Vietnam and Diem were described as "excellent", even though the advisers were doubtful of his ability to hold off the insurgency.[7]

text: Newly elected President John F. Kennedy agreed with MAAG Vietnam's calls for increases in ARVN troop levels and the U.S. military commitment in both equipment and men. In response, Kennedy provided $28.4 million in funding for ARVN, and overall military aid increased from $50 million per year to $144 million in 1961. In the first year of the Kennedy administration, MAAG Vietnam worked closely with administration officials, USOM, and the US Information Service to develop a counterinsurgency plan (CIP). The CIP's main initiatives included the strengthening of ARVN to combat the Communist insurgency, which had the corollary effect of strengthening Diem's political position.[8] At the same time President Diem agreed to the assignment of advisers to battalion level, significantly increasing the number of advisers; from 746 in 1961 to over 3,400 before MAAG Vietnam was placed under U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) and renamed the Field Advisory Element, Vietnam. At the peak of the war in 1968, 9,430 Army personnel acted as advisors down to the district and battalion level to train, advise and mentor the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps, Republic of Vietnam Navy and the Republic of Vietnam Air Force.

text: MAAG Indochina had three commanders: BG Francis G. Brink, October 1950 – August 1952; MG Thomas J. H. Trapnell, August 1952 – April 1954; and LTG John W. O'Daniel, April 1954 – November 1955. MAAG Vietnam was commanded by LTG Samuel T. Williams, November 1955 – September 1960; LTG Lionel C. McGarr, September 1960 – January 1962; and GEN Paul D. Harkins, January 1962 – June 1964.

text: MAAG Thailand[edit]

text: As part of the military outreach of the USA to friendly countries in Southeast Asia, a MAAG was established in Bangkok, Thailand in September 1950.

text: It was replaced by the Joint US Military Advisory Group Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI) in September 1953, which operates until today.[9][10]

text: MAAG Laos[edit]

text: MAAG Laos was preceded by the Programs Evaluation Office, established on 15 December 1955. Due to the limitations emplaced by international treaty, the PEO was set up with civilian personnel instead of a MAAG with a military staff. When political changes superseded the treaty, MAAG Laos was established in 1961 to replace the Programs Evaluation Office in its support of the Royal Lao Army's fight against the communist Pathet Lao. On July 23, 1962, several interested countries agreed in Geneva to guarantee the neutrality and independence of Laos. As such, the US removed the MAAG, replacing it with a Requirements Office, which served as a convenient cover for the CIA activities.[11]

text: One of MAAG Laos' commanders was Reuben Tucker.

text: MAAG Cambodia[edit]

text: MAAG Cambodia was established on June 4, 1955, pursuant to the United States-Royal Government of Cambodia agreement of May 16, 1955. This agreement included the introduction of high-ranking US military personnel to advise the Cambodian armed forces as non-combatants.[12] The advisory group was staffed mainly by army personnel, with smaller contingents of navy and air force personnel.

text: As Cambodia's leadership took an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War, MAAG Cambodia's involvement in the country was terminated on November 20, 1963, by General Order 6, MAAG Cambodia, following the Cambodian government's cancellation of all U.S. aid.[13]

text: MAAG Republic of China[edit]

text: In Taiwan, U.S. Military Advisory Group generally refers to the United States Armed Forces in the Republic of China (Taiwan) from April 1951 to December 1978. The commander of these forces was U.S. Major General William C. Chase until his retirement in 1955 at which time he was succeeded by U.S. Brigadier General Lester Bork[14] American military advisers were tasked with providing arms and military advice, assisting with Taiwanese military training, implementation of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, maintaining military contacts, and monitoring Republic of China forces. In 1957 there were 10,000 Americans in Taiwan, the great majority being CIA and military personnel and their families.[15]

text: Since 1979, the site of MAAG headquarters in Taipei has been occupied by American Institute in Taiwan/Taipei branch, which is scheduled to move to a new office complex in 2015.


document_title: Safe Haven (film)

question_text: where did they film the movie safe haven

root

text: Safe Haven (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: A terrified woman (Julianne Hough) flees her house in Boston, having been in the possession of a bloody knife. After taking shelter with a neighbor, she is shown moments later at the bus station trying to flee town. She buys a bus ticket with her hair now cropped and bleached and stops in the small town of Southport, North Carolina. At the general store, she introduces herself as Katie Feldman. After acquiring a job as a waitress and renting a small house on the edge of town, Katie befriends her neighbor, Jo (Cobie Smulders) and meets Alex Wheatley (Josh Duhamel), a widowed father of two young children, Josh, (Noah Lomax) who has a strained relationship with him, and Lexie, who operates the local general store. Alex soon gives Katie a bicycle so she won't have to walk.

tag: p

text: It's not too long before Katie and Alex start a relationship, and she becomes like a mother to Josh and Lexie. Meanwhile, Kevin Tierney (David Lyons), a Boston police detective, prepares wanted posters for a woman named "Erin" which describe that she is wanted for first-degree murder. Alex sees Erin's wanted poster in the police station and notices the picture bears a striking resemblance to Katie. He confronts Katie with the information, causing a huge fight. They break up, and Katie moves out of her house.

text: As Katie is about to leave town, however, Alex intercepts her and says that he has fallen in love with her. Katie returns his love, and decides to stay in Southport. She tells Alex that she fled to Southport to escape her abusive and alcoholic husband. They got in a fight, and she stabbed him in self-defense before she fled south.

text: Meanwhile, Kevin is suspended for creating the wanted posters, whereupon it is revealed that he is Katie's (Erin's) abusive and alcoholic husband. Enraged, he breaks into Katie's former neighbor's home back in Boston and finds the phone number to the Southport restaurant where Katie works. Arriving just in time for the town's Fourth of July parade, a severely intoxicated Kevin sees Katie kissing Alex, which enrages him. That night, Katie has a dream that she is standing on the docks watching the fireworks when Jo comes up and tells Katie that "he" is here. Katie wakes up in the convenience store next to a sleeping Lexie when Kevin suddenly appears and confronts her, demanding that she go back with him. She refuses and tells him to leave. Kevin pulls a gun and pours gasoline all over the store, with the intent to burn it down.

text: When he hesitates, Katie buys time by faking sympathy for him and agreeing to return home with him. When he lets his guard down, she pushes him into the water; however, a firework spark lands on the gasoline, igniting a fire that engulfs the store. Alex sees the burning store, quickly makes his way across the harbor by boat, and saves Lexie. Meanwhile, Katie tries to fight off Kevin; during the struggle, the gun goes off and kills Kevin, ridding her of him forever.

text: In the aftermath of the fire, Alex recovers several letters which were written by his late wife Carly before she died. The letters were prepared ahead of time for memorable events such as Josh's eighteenth birthday and Lexie's wedding day. Alex gives Katie a letter with the words "To Her" on the envelope; the letter thanks the recipient for making Alex happy. Enclosed with the letter is a photo of Alex's late wife, whom Katie is astonished to discover was actually Jo. This means that Jo was Carly, in the form of an angel, who led Katie to her husband, Alex.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Josh Duhamel as Alex Wheatley, A widower who struggles to raise his two kids until he meets Katie.
Julianne Hough as Erin Tierney/Katie Feldman, A young woman who flees her abusive husband and meets Alex.
Cobie Smulders as Carly Jo, A woman who befriended Katie.
David Lyons as Detective Kevin Tierney, and Katie’s abusive husband.
Mimi Kirkland as Lexie Wheatley, Daughter of Alex and who befriended Katie
Noah Lomax as Josh Wheatley, Son of Alex who has a rough and strained relationship with his father due to his mother's death.
Irene Ziegler as Mrs. Feldman
Robin Mullins as Maddie
Red West as Roger. This was West's last film role before his death in July 2017
Juan Carlos Piedrahita as Detective Ramirez
Cullen Moss as Deputy Bass
Mike Pniewski as Lieutenant Robinson

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: The film began principal photography on June 18, 2012 in Wilmington and Southport, North Carolina.[6] Parts of it were filmed in Louisiana and the opening scene with Katie on the Coach America bus is on the Linn Cove Viaduct along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Safe Haven grossed US$71,349,120 in North America and US$26,245,020 in other territories for a worldwide total of US$97,594,140.[3]

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed US$21,401,594, finishing third at the box office behind A Good Day to Die Hard (US$24,834,845) and Identity Thief (US$23,674,295).[3]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Critical reaction for Safe Haven was largely negative.[7][8][9][10][11] Peter Bradshaw, writing for The Guardian, called Safe Haven's setting "a sugary vision of small-town America that does not correspond with the real world at any point."[12] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film zero stars out of four, and concluded his review by stating: "I hate Safe Haven. It's a terrible thing to do to your Valentine."[13]

text: The film has a score of 34 on Metacritic, a "generally unfavorable" score, based on 33 reviews.[14] At Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 12%, based on reviews from 137 critics.[15]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Recipient
Result
Ref(s)

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie: Romance

Nominated
[16]

Young Artist Awards
Best Supporting Young Actress in a Feature Film
Mimi Kirkland
Nominated
[17]

tag: table

text: Home media[edit]

text: Safe Haven was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 7, 2013.


document_title: Thallium poisoning

question_text: why thallium is known as the poisoner's poison

question_tokens: why thallium is known as the poisoner 's poison

text: Thallium poisoning

text: Treatment and internal decontamination[edit]

text: There are two main methods of removing both radioactive and stable isotopes of thallium from humans. First known was to use Prussian blue, which is a solid ion exchange material, which absorbs thallium. Up to 20 g per day of Prussian blue is fed by mouth to the person, and it passes through their digestive system and comes out in the stool. Hemodialysis and hemoperfusion are also used to remove thallium from the blood serum. At later stage of the treatment additional potassium is used to mobilize thallium from the tissue.[8][9]

text: Bioconcentration[edit]

text: According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), thallium release to the environment was reported in Texas and Ohio. This may indicate bioconcentration in aquatic ecosystems.[2]

text: Thallium compounds[edit]

text: The odorless and tasteless thallium sulfate was also used as rat poison and ant killer. Since 1975, this use in the United States and many other countries is prohibited due to safety concerns.[10]

text: Detection in body fluids[edit]

text: Thallium may be quantitated in blood or urine as a diagnostic tool in clinical poisoning situations or to aid in the medicolegal investigation of suspicious deaths. Normal background blood and urine concentrations in healthy persons are usually less than 1 μg/litre, but they are often in the 1–10 mg/litre range in survivors of acute intoxication.[11][12]

text: Famous uses as a poison[edit]

text: There are numerous recorded cases of fatal thallium poisoning.[13] Because of its use for murder, thallium has gained the nicknames "The Poisoner's Poison" and "Inheritance Powder" (alongside arsenic).

text: Australia's "Thallium Craze"[edit]

text: In Australia, in the early 1950s, there was a notable spate of cases of murder or attempted murder by thallium poisoning. At this time, due to the chronic rat infestation problems in overcrowded inner-city suburbs (notably in Sydney), and thallium's effectiveness as a rat poison, it was still readily available over the counter in New South Wales, where thallium sulphate was marketed as a commercial rat bait, under the brand "Thall-rat".

text:
In September 1952, Yvonne Gladys Fletcher, a housewife and mother of two from the inner Sydney suburb of Newtown, was charged and tried for the murders of both her first husband, Desmond Butler (who died in 1948) and her abusive second husband, Bertrand "Bluey" Fletcher, a rat bait layer, from whom Yvonne had obtained the thallium poison that she used to kill him earlier that year. Suspicions were raised after it became obvious to friends and neighbours that Bluey Fletcher was suffering from the same fatal illness that had killed Yvonne's first husband. A police investigation led to the exhumation and testing of Desmond Butler's remains, which showed clear evidence of thallium, and this led to Yvonne being convicted of Butler's murder. She was sentenced to death, but this was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment after the NSW Government abolished the death penalty; she was eventually released in 1964. At the time of the trial, it was reported that this was the first known case in Australia of a person being convicted of murder by administering thallium.[14][15] The Fletcher case is also notable for the fact that one of the arresting officers was Sydney detective Fred Krahe, who later became notorious for his suspected close involvement with elements of Sydney's organised crime scene and his alleged involvement in the disappearance of social activist Juanita Nielsen.
A month later, in October 1952, Bathurst grandmother Ruby Norton was tried for the murder of her daughter's fiancė Allen Williams, who died of thallium poisoning at Cowra Hospital in July 1952. Despite allegations that Norton hated all the men in her family and Williams was an unwanted son-in-law, Norton was acquitted.[15]
In 1953, Sydney woman Veronica Monty, 45, was tried for the attempted murder of her son-in-law, noted Balmain and Australian rugby league player Bob Lulham, who was treated for thallium poisoning in 1952. After separating from her husband, Monty had moved in with her daughter Judy and Judy's husband, Bob Lulham. The sensational trial revealed that Lulham and Monty had an "intimate relationship" while Lulham's wife was at Sunday mass. Monty was found not guilty; Judy Lulham divorced her husband as a result of the revelations about his affair, and Veronica Monty killed herself with thallium in 1955.[15]
In July 1953, Sydney woman Beryl Hague was tried for "maliciously administering thallium and endangering her husband's life". Hague confessed to buying Thall-rat from a corner shop and putting it in her husband's tea, because she wanted to "give him a headache to repay the many headaches he had given me" in violent disputes[15]
In 1953, Australian Caroline Grills was sentenced to life in prison after three family members and a close family friend died. Authorities found thallium in tea that she had given to two additional family members. Grills spent the rest of her life in Sydney's Long Bay Gaol, where fellow inmates dubbed her "Aunt Thally".[15][16][17]

text: The Australian TV documentary Recipe for Murder, released in 2011, examined three of the most sensational and widely reported Australian thallium poisonings, the Fletcher, Monty and Grills cases.

text: Other notable cases[edit]

text:
Félix-Roland Moumié, a Cameroonian leader, was assassinated in Geneva on 3 November 1960 by the SDECE (French secret service) with thallium.
In 1971, thallium was the main poison that Graham Frederick Young used to poison around 70 people in the English village of Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, of whom three died.[18]
From 1976 to late 1979, thallium was used as a chemical warfare agent, most notably by a unit of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) attached to the Selous Scouts during the Rhodesian Bush War.[19]
In 1977, a 19-month-old girl living in Qatar fell ill due to thallium poisoning (from pesticides used by her parents). While doctors were unable to identify the cause, a nurse named Marsha Maitland managed to do it from the description of the symptoms given in The Pale Horse.[20]
In 1987, in Kiev, a woman named Tamara Ivanutina was arrested along with her older sister and parents. They were found guilty of 40 cases of poisoning (13 of them lethal) with Clerici solution obtained from an acquaintance working at a geology institute. Tamara (guilty of nine deaths, including four children) was executed; one of the three documented cases of women receiving the capital punishment in post-Stalin Soviet Union. Her relatives received prison terms, the parents dying in jail.[21]
In 1988, members of the Carr family from Alturas, Polk County, Florida, fell ill from what appeared to be thallium poisoning. Peggy Carr, the mother, died slowly and painfully from the poison. Her son and stepson were critically ill but eventually recovered. The Carrs' neighbor, chemist George J. Trepal, was convicted of murdering Mrs. Carr and attempting to murder her family and sentenced to death. The thallium was slipped into bottles of Coca-Cola at the Carr and Trepal homes.[22]
Thallium was the poison of choice for Saddam Hussein to use on dissidents, which even allowed for them to emigrate before dying.[23]
In 1995, Zhu Ling was the victim of an unsolved attempted thallium poisoning in Beijing, China. In 1994, Zhu Ling was a sophomore studying Physical Chemistry at Tsinghua University in Beijing. She began to show strange and debilitating symptoms at the end of 1994, when she reported experiencing acute stomach pain and extensive hair loss. Ultimately she was diagnosed on Usenet with poisoning by thallium. To this day, there is still speculation as to the poisoner's identity among Chinese expatriates overseas. The primary (and only) suspect of the police investigation, Sun Wei, is a member of a family with high-level political connections, which may have been used to halt and suppress the results of the investigation. Sun Wei was Zhu Ling's classmate and roommate in Tsinghua University from 1992 to 1997. Tsinghua University also said she was the only student who had access to thallium compound at the school. The investigation's results have never been released to Zhu Ling's parents or the general public. However, Tsinghua University declined to issue Sun Wei's B. S. certificate and refused to provide her with the documentation needed to get a passport or visa in 1997.
In 1999, Norwegian Terje Wiik was sentenced to 21 years prison for poisoning his girlfriend with thallium.
In June 2004, 25 Russian soldiers earned Honorable Mentions in the Darwin Awards after becoming ill from thallium exposure when they found a can of mysterious white powder in a rubbish dump on their base at Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East. Oblivious to the danger of misusing an unidentified white powder from a military dump site, the conscripts added it to tobacco, and used it as a substitute for talcum powder on their feet.[24]
In 2005, a 17-year-old girl in Izunokuni, Shizuoka, Japan admitted to attempting to murder her mother by lacing her tea with thallium, causing a national scandal.[25]
In February 2007, two Americans, Marina and Yana Kovalevsky, a mother and daughter, visiting Russia were hospitalized for thallium poisoning. Both had emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1991 and had made several trips to Russia since then.[26]
In February 2008, members of an Iraqi air force club and some of their children were poisoned by cake laced with thallium.[27] Two of the children died.
In 2011, a chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Jersey, Li Tianle, was charged with the murder of her husband. According to an investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, Li Tianle was able to obtain a chemical containing thallium and fed it to her husband.[28] Li was a chemistry student at Beijing University at the time of the highly publicized thallium poisoning of Zhu Ling in 1995 at neighboring Tsinghua University.[29]
In 2012 a chemistry postgraduate student at the University of Southampton, UK, was found to be suffering from the effects of thallium and arsenic poisoning after presenting with neurological symptoms.[30] The student underwent an intensive course of treatment and—although they have shown improvement—faces an uncertain long-term prognosis for the recovery of full locomotion. Urine screening revealed elevated thallium levels in a small number of other members of the chemistry department, though none were at toxic levels. The source of the poisoning remains unknown, and although police investigations were fruitless, foul play is strongly suspected.[citation needed]

text: In fiction[edit]

text:
Ngaio Marsh used thallium acetate in her 1947 detective novel, Final Curtain. It was being used legitimately for scalp problems in a group of school children just after World War Two, housed in a private estate. A relative living there used it in place of the heart medicine intended for the owner.
Agatha Christie, who worked as a pharmacist, used thallium in 1961 as the agent of murder in her detective fiction novel The Pale Horse — the first clue to the murder method coming from the hair loss of the victims. This novel is notable as being credited with having saved at least two lives after readers recognised the symptoms of thallium poisoning that Christie described.[31] The Pale Horse was found among possessions of convicted thallium poisoner George Trepal's wife, the orthopedic surgeon Dr. Diana Carr (see above), who was herself considered a suspect in the Peggy Carr (no relation) murder for a time.
In Nigel Williams' 1990 novel The Wimbledon Poisoner, Henry Far uses thallium to baste a roast chicken in a failed attempt to murder his wife.
Thallium figures prominently in the 1995 film The Young Poisoner's Handbook, a dark comedy loosely based on the life of Graham Frederick Young.
In Big Nothing, Josie is the Wyoming Widow; a murderer who befriended men and killed them with whiskey laced with highly concentrated thallium.
In the 2010 episode "Whatever It Takes" of House, a character uses thallium to poison a patient to mimic the effects of polio, then appear to cure it with ultra high doses of vitamin C.
In the NCIS episode "Dead Man Walking" (2007), thallium-laced cigars are used to murder a Naval officer.
"Page Turner", a 2008 episode of CSI: NY, has radioactive thallium poisoning as its central theme.[32]
In the 2010 film Edge of Darkness, thallium is used to poison both the main character and his daughter.
In the 2015 James Bond Film SPECTRE, the organisation of the same name used thallium to poison 'Mr White' by lacing his mobile (cell) phone with it.
In Season 3 of Royal Pains, the mysterious German billionaire Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz was poisoned by thallium added to his pool's water.
Drop Dead Diva episode "Ashes to Ashes", thallium was used to murder a client's husband, affecting the client when she ate the cremation remains.
In 2016 TVB drama Two Steps From Heaven, thallium was used to poison Bosco Wong's character.


document_title: GEICO advertising campaigns

question_text: who provided the voice for the geico insurance company gecko

question_tokens: who provided the voice for the geico insurance company gecko

text: GEICO advertising campaigns

text: Animated advertisements[edit]

text: Animated advertisements were part of the early GEICO Direct ads as well as the "Dumb Things" campaign. The 15-second long commercials, animated by Bill Plympton, featured a curious little man walking up to an object and eventually getting hurt due to his curiosity of the object.[6] One of the commercials, for example, involved him finding a cannon and pressing a button, causing a resulting cannonball to fire out and stick to his face. The original saying in the commercial was "You could still save money on car insurance. Even if you made a few mistakes."; later modified to "We all do dumb things. Paying too much for car insurance doesn't have to be one of them."[7]

text: The Gecko[edit]

text: The company's ads sometimes focus on its reptilian mascot, The Gecko, an anthropomorphic Day Gecko created by The Martin Agency, modified in 2005 to a CGI character by Animation Director David Hulin and his team at Framestore. The gecko first appeared in 1999, during the Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors.[8] 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[9] (which portray him as a representative of the company), the gecko speaks with a British 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.[10] "As computer animation got better and as we got to know the character better, we did a few things," says Steve Bassett, creative director at The Martin Agency. "We wanted to make him a little more guy-next-door. And he looks a lot more real than he's looked before."[8] 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.[11] He had since became GEICO's longest-running mascot, appearing in more than 150 commercials as of 2017.

text: Maxwell the pig[edit]

text: Maxwell is an anthropomorphic talking pig and recurring character in GEICO advertisements. Maxwell debuted in an installment of the Rhetorical Questions campaign as the "little piggy who cried 'wee wee wee' all the way home" (referencing the famous nursery rhyme "This Little Piggy") being driven home by a friend's mother, squealing along the way. While Maxwell was originally intended as a one-time character, the popularity of his debut commercial resulted in him being spun off into his own series of commercials which usually feature him as a tech-savvy, informative pig who is most concerned with his GEICO-related objects.

text: Cavemen[edit]

text: A popular series of well-received advertisements uses cavemen as pitchmen. Also developed by the Martin Agency, the ads center on Neanderthal-like cavemen, no different from modern-day individuals (outside of somewhat prehistoric facial features), encountering either an ad or commercial with the tagline "GEICO: so easy a caveman could do it," followed by their disgust with the supposed stereotype of caveman stupidity. The ads posit a world where cavemen are still alive and active members of society in the present day, behaving and living nothing at all like the stereotypical caveman. The main characters presented in the ads are affluent, educated, and cultured, eating at fancy restaurants, going to exclusive parties, and seeing their therapists (portrayed in the commercials by two-time Oscar-nominated actress Talia Shire). The humor revolves around the relative normality of the cavemen's presence and their reactions to the stereotype represented in the ads, and their attempts at defending themselves from the stereotype.

text: The ads were so successful that the commercial actors are appearing in a successful series of interactive websites written and produced by GEICO's in-house creative team at Caveman's Crib and most recently, iHeartcavemen. A spin-off TV series, titled Cavemen and starring new actors, debuted on ABC in October 2007[12] to overwhelmingly negative critical reaction. It was canceled after only six episodes were aired.

text: Parodies[edit]

text: Another common theme is misdirection, in which the commercial appears to be about an unrelated product (or, in fact, may not even be a commercial), suddenly changing to become a plug for GEICO. The commercials use a variety of fictional characters such as Speed Racer, Chatty Cathy, Jed Clampett, and Bill Dutchess. Other commercials relate to a hair loss doctor who has saved by switching to GEICO, a nature show about a fish, workout with Tony Little, and a soap opera of a couple who are breaking up. Another set of GEICO ads involved a fictional reality show called "Tiny House" in which contestants were forced to live in a half-scale house.

text: An additional commercial theme is the promotion of fictional products. In 2006 parody ads featured such products as long distance phone service, tomato soda, fast-food, a reality TV show, dolls, and even poking fun at the Old Navy commercials – in all cases, the parody portion of the ad ends with "but it won't save you any money on car insurance." After the GEICO slogan is heard, the commercials end with "Why haven't you called GEICO?" Including Wonder Glue.

text: The parody pitch crossed over to the Caveman campaign in 2007, in a 10-second spot that appears to be a talking heads news interview, but features the popular caveman.

text: In response to some of the parody ads, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich wrote a sketch using the character C in a parody of one of the celebrity ads for their second Robot Chicken Star Wars special.

text: MADtv also made a sketch parodying these ads using characters of Elmo (who was performed by Frank Caeti) and Carlos Mencia (who was played by Johnny Sanchez).

text: Actor Scott Whyte has made a series of commercial parodies, calling the company, "Schmeiko", while performing a series of impressions.

text: "I've got good news"[edit]

text: In another ad campaign, a character would be breaking bad news to another (such as a baseball manager replacing a struggling pitcher with a reliever), but then offers helpfully, "I've got good news: I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO!" That news, of course, is of no immediate use at all to the other character(s). Some of the ads were parodies and/or featured celebrities including, for example, Esteban; one featured the popular anime character Speed Racer. The exchange became parodied for a time while the ads were popular. One of the most watched "I've got good news" spots was a soap opera parody featuring television actor Sebastian Siegel.

text: Bland salesman[edit]

text: In another series of ads, a GEICO pitchman is played by actor Jerry Lambert in an extremely bland and understated way, parodying the stereotype of an insurance man, such as reading to a group of uninterested children from a book of fairy tales about insurance, watching a view of cats in the living room where a gecko is standing on the couch, relaxing on a hot tub with a couple, and a flashback about "Honk If You Like". In one segment, he reads a supposed e-mail from a viewer saying it would be "da bomb" (i.e., something good), if the Gecko would do a dance called "The Robot". Cut to the Gecko doing that dance smoothly and gracefully (to the tune of a not-for-public-sale melody called "Sweet World" by a group called Omega Men,[13] which was used in the arcade video game In the Groove 2) and then back to the insurance salesman attempting to do the same dance, seemingly more stiffly than an actual robot would. The newest commercial featuring the GEICO gecko depicts the Gecko receiving a business suit from the salesman, in order to present a more professional appearance, but he declines.

text: "Real service, real savings"[edit]

text: In this campaign, a real GEICO customer would present his/her testimonials, while a celebrity standing next to, or behind, the customer uses his/her signature styles to help get the customer's word across.

text: Some of these celebrities included:

text:
Peter Graves (1926–2010)
Peter Frampton
Burt Bacharach
Little Richard
Mrs. Butterworth
Joan Rivers (1933–2014)
The Pips (1952–1989)
Charo
James Lipton
Michael Winslow
Verne Troyer
Don LaFontaine (1940–2008)

text: The slogan exclusive to this campaign is "GEICO: Real service, real savings".

text: My Great Rides[edit]

text: In 2007, GEICO also launched a social networking site, My Great Rides, for motorcycle owners. My Great Rides is a place for cycle owners to share stories about trips they have taken on their bikes, as well as post pictures of their motorcycles, and comment on other members' stories and pictures. My Great Rides was taken down on 27 February 2012.[14]

text: GEICO Racing[edit]

text: The number 7 car of the NASCAR Nationwide Series is driven by Mike Wallace and was sponsored by GEICO prior to 2009.[15][16] Commercials involving the race team are of a memorably disdainful young boy, played by actor Eddie Heffernan claiming to be a relative of Mike Wallace and being a better driver.[17] The boy says, "When people see Mike Wallace and the GEICO number 7 doing well, they'll think of saving a bunch of money on car insurance. But when they see me, they'll say, 'There goes Lauren Wallace; the greatest thing to ever climb into a race car.'"[18]

text: The commercials are sometimes presented in an interview fashion, where an unseen narrator speaks to the ambitious go-kart driver. "What do you think of Mike Wallace?" the child is asked, to which he responds, "Whatever, he's out there selling car insurance, I'm out there to win." When questioned on his relation to the NASCAR driver, Lauren shakes his head and concludes, "I didn't say I wouldn't go fishing with the man, all I'm saying is if he comes near me, I'll put him in the wall." To which the narrator questions him, "You don't race in the Busch Series." Lauren replies "Listen, go-kart track, grocery store, those remote controlled boats; when it comes to Mike Wallace the story ends with me putting him in the wall."

text: New ads in this lineup include Lauren referring to himself as being, "100 miles away and ready to strike," and "lightning in a bottle."

text: The success of those ads resulted in the launch of an interactive website written and produced by GEICO's in-house creative team at GEICO Garage. The site includes cameo appearances by Lauren Wallace and drivers Mike Wallace, his daughter Chrissy Wallace, Speed TV's Tommy Kendall, Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi and Max Papis.

text: TRS: The Real Scoop[edit]

text: Introduced in 2 August 2007, this series of ads features an E! True Hollywood Story-type show about famed fictional characters such as Fred Flintstone, Jed Clampett, and even a Cabbage Patch Kid named Ben Winkler claiming to have their cars (the Flintmobile, Jed's 1923 Oldsmobile truck, and a Plymouth Reliant/Dodge Aries, respectively) insured by GEICO, featuring interviews with made-up investigators (however, the Ben Winkler spot does not have an interview). These commercials were voiced over by narrator David O'Brien.

text: "The money you could be saving"[edit]

text: Starting in 2008, GEICO has aired a series of TV ads featuring two paper-banded stacks of U.S. bills with a pair of big, googly eyes on top. Kash, who never says anything, just sits and stares at people (in a manner intended to be unsettling), set to a remix of a Rockwell/Michael Jackson song, "Somebody's Watching Me" by Mysto & Pizzi.

text: Rhetorical question campaign[edit]

text: Toward the end of 2009 until mid 2012, GEICO introduced another advertising campaign in which Mike McGlone walks into an empty room and queries the viewer, "Could switching to GEICO really save you 15% or more on car insurance?" After this, he pauses and then asks a rhetorical and/or obvious question which is immediately followed by a scene cut to the subject at hand. Such questions have included (in no particular order):

text: Television[edit]

text:
Is Ed "Too Tall" Jones too tall?: (Cuts to Jones in a doctor's office being measured for his height, even though he is too tall for the maximum length of the measure. The nurse then says, "I'm just gonna guesstimate.")
Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?: (Cuts to Daniels energetically playing a fiddle in a classy restaurant after taking it from a violinist. Once he finishes, he hands it back and states "That's how you do it, son".)
Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?: (Cuts to Elmer hunting and telling the audience to be "vewy quiet" while he's "hunting wabbits", the director correcting his rhotacism to the former's frustration, and eventually stalking off the screen while muttering about how "this diwector is starting to wub (him) the wong way".)
Did The Waltons take way too long to say good night?: (Cuts to the Walton family saying "good night" to each other numerous times.)
Does a ten-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit?: (Cuts to a child buttering an enormous biscuit on the kitchen counter humming as his mom walks in with a dismayed look upon her face.)
Did the caveman invent fire?: (Cuts to the GEICO caveman sitting in a living room on a couch with a female companion. He looks disdainfully at the camera, then activates the fireplace by remote control before scowling at the camera once more.)
Was Abe Lincoln honest?: (Cuts to an old-style black and white film of Mary Todd Lincoln asking "Does this dress make my backside look big?" After a lengthy pause and deliberation, Lincoln sheepishly responds, saying "Perhaps a ...", interrupted as she gets up and walks out perturbed.)
Is having a snowball fight with pitching great Randy Johnson a bad idea?: (Cuts to Johnson helping a man to his feet, the latter with a hole in the arm of his jacket, in a snowy street. After lamenting the heavily damaged garage door behind them, they agree to go sledding instead.)
Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?: (Cuts to an Antiques Roadshow appraiser examining a small statue of a human hand holding a bird. He tells the statue's owner that it is indeed worth at least two in the bush.)
Can fútbol announcer Andrés Cantor make any sport exciting?: (Cuts to Cantor loudly and energetically calling a slow-paced chess match. When one player makes a move, he yells his trademark "GOOAAALLL!" much to the players' annoyance)
Does a former drill sergeant make a terrible therapist?: (Cuts to R. Lee Ermey talking to a man on a psychiatrist's couch, then abruptly yelling at him for crying and then throws a box of tissues at him, calling him a crybaby.)
Do woodchucks chuck wood?: (Cuts to a jovial pair of woodchucks throwing chopped logs into a pond and being admonished by the farmer who chopped them.)
Did the little piggy cry 'wee wee wee' all the way home?? (Cuts to a pig named Maxwell riding in the back seat of an SUV holding pinwheels, yelling "wee wee wee" out the window, before being dropped off at his house by his friend's exasperated mother.) (See section Maxwell the Pig)
Does it take two to tango?: (Cuts to a man and woman dancing the tango while another man tries to dance with them.)
What, do you live under a rock?: (Cuts to a man living underground who moves a rock so he can raise his head above ground to see outside, and then gets excited when he sees a GEICO billboard and invites his friend Rick to move his own rock and take a peek.)
Does the buck stop here?; (The camera zooms out as a deer walks onto the soundstage and stops next to McGlone, who then shrugs his shoulders.)
Do dogs chase cats?: (Cuts to a dog and cat engaged in a Bullitt-style car chase.)
Would Foghorn Leghorn make a really bad book narrator?: (Cuts to a recording studio where Foghorn is reading A Tale of Two Cities – his ad-libbing and talking over the director cause an exasperated Henery Hawk to get up from the control panel and whack him with a club.)
Is the pen mightier than the sword?: (Cuts to a ninja menacingly demonstrating his swordsmanship to his opponent, who countermaneuvers by using a pen to sign for the delivery of his new taser, with which he promptly dispatches the ninja.)
Do people use smartphones to do dumb things?: (Cuts to three office workers using very silly smartphone apps to help celebrate the end of the workweek.)

text: Radio[edit]

text:
Would helium make opera sound less stuffy?: (Cuts to male opera singer singing in a deep voice, then inhaling helium, and continuing in a high-pitched voice.)
Do mimes make even less sense when you can't see them?: (Cuts to a narrator describing a mime pretending to be inside an invisible box.)
Is sneaking out of a really boring meeting while wearing tap shoes a bad idea?: (Cuts to a boring meeting with tap shoes in the background, until the boss catches on.)
Does a rolling stone gather no moss?: (Cuts to the sound of a boulder rolling through various things until it crashes to a stop, with McGlone then saying, "No moss – you're gonna have to trust me on this one.")
Do only dogs hear dog whistles?: (Cuts to the sound of someone breathing in, then blowing in a dog whistle a few times, before being interrupted by several barking dogs.)
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a noise?: (Cuts to the sound of a tree falling and crashing, with McGlone then saying, "Yep.")
Is texting getting way out of hand?: (McGlone then begins to elaborate, but is interrupted and distracted by several incoming texts, ultimately responding to one message with "LOL, UR my BFF.")

text: Short Stories and Tall Tales[edit]

text: Starting in 2010, there have been TV commercials in which a nursery rhyme, being read to the audience from an illustrated book entitled Short Stories and Tall Tales, turns into an ad for GEICO homeowner's and renters insurance:

text:
In one, the cow who jumped over the moon crashes down through someone's roof; luckily, the owner was insured with GEICO.
In another, Jack Be Nimble accidentally knocked over a candlestick onto the shagged carpeting and insured with GEICO because of his flaming pants, his new pants are bought from Banana Republic.
In another, Baa Baa Black Sheep got three bags of wool taken and insured GEICO, but the hooligan down the lane is caught, selling the stolen goods online.
In another, the Itsy Bitsy Spider's home is flooded as a result of a clogged downspout, and his mattress is ruined; thanks to GEICO, he now has a "Sleep Number" bed. His sleep number is 25.
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner on a department and insured GEICO with renters insurance, it turns out Little Jack Horner got his stomach pumped because of eating a 6-month-old Christmas pie.
Little Bo Peep accidentally broke into her apartment and got her sheep stolen.
A burglar breaks into Little Miss Muffet's house and steals her tuffets, which were fortunately insured. The burglar was later caught, given away by a whey stain.
Goldilocks breaks into the home of the Three Bears, eats some porridge, breaks a chair, and steals their laptop. Thanks to GEICO insurance, the Bears are able to replace their things, including a new chair from Crate & Barrel.
After his straw house is blown away by the Big Bad Wolf, the Little Pig is able to build a more elaborate straw house thanks to GEICO homeowner's insurance. The Wolf then gets a job blowing at a wind farm.
Hansel and Gretel broke outside the Gingerbread house and ate the whole roof, then GEICO Homeowners Insurance gets the roof covered for the witch. Hansel and Gretel are sent through the candy cane forest.
An old woman who lived in a shoe buys groceries when burglars broke into her shoe and avoids stolen things with juice press for GEICO Homeowners Insurance, then gets a job for the Mountain Bike Juice Delivery Service.
Mary and her lamb turned out her dress is ruined by an electrical fire and takes a hobby at Bloomingdale's for her new dress and exclusively for little lambs after using GEICO Renters Insurance.
Jack and Jill are about to fetch water from a well until an overflowing kitchen sink sprung a leak, and they use GEICO Homeowners Insurance, and they went to fetch lattes and almond milk instead of just water.

text: Xtranormal[edit]

text: Near the end of 2010, a new advertising campaign began made up of amateurish computer animated advertisements, supposedly made in 15 minutes, created with the computer software program Xtranormal.[19]

text: "Easier Way to Save"[edit]

text: Starting in the summer of 2011, a new series of advertising involved people discovering unusual ways to save money.

text: Television[edit]

text:
A couple teaching their 6-year-old son how to dunk a basketball in order to help him get a scholarship, with him getting stuck on the basket.
A dog and a cockatoo playing A-Ha's "Take on Me" because their owner can't afford to keep downloading music.
A sea captain living as a roommate, rehearsing "Major-General's Song."
A woman turning her daughter's pet fish into her husband's meal.
Robots hired in a daycare center because they "work for free".
Three guinea pigs rowing their boat to produce electricity for their owner's computer.
A couple adopting a black rescue panther who can protect their house.
A man singing a personal ad to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" because dating websites cost too much money.
Three middle school girls criticize on what the man is eating, only to watch his weight.
A family forming their own theme park.
Boy Scouts using paintball guns to decorate a couple's living room.
A man adopting a pet possum for his kids, as a cheaper alternative to a puppy.

text: Radio commercials[edit]

text:
A man who tries to cut his wife's hair, while she sleeps, instead of going to the hairstylist.
A man who can only rely on toll-free numbers.
A man consolidating his 5 daughters' weddings into one day.
A woman carpooling with her daughter's school bus.
An umpire who cannot pay for his contacts, using the lost pair of eyeglasses he found.
A man turning his bathroom shower into an amusement attraction, instead of taking his family to an amusement park.
A man using carrier pigeons to send letters because of the high cost of postage stamps.
A man who can't spend money on the Internet for his home, thus using his neighbor's unprotected connection.
A woman who is dreaming of being in Machu Picchu because she cannot buy airline tickets.

text: "Brighter side"[edit]

text: This campaign shows two people in a sticky situation. One of them is not as worried as the other, explaining "I'm looking on the brighter side. I save over 15% on my car insurance by switching to GEICO." Commercials from this campaign include:

text:
A magician feels guilty for sawing his assistant in half.
A woman and her neighbor observe a fallen giant in the middle of her garden.
Two fisherman are being abducted by aliens and fear what the aliens are going to do with them.
Divers have been swallowed by a whale.

text: "Get Happy, Get GEICO"[edit]

text: From early-2012 to early 2013, GEICO had a family of commercials where bluegrass pickers named Ronnie (played by director/musician Alex Harvey) and Jimmy (played by actor/comedian Timothy Ryan Cole) talk about how happy saving money on insurance can make someone do certain things intended to be humorous:

text:
Happier than Gallagher at a Farmer's market: Gallagher runs amok at a farmer's market, smashing watermelons with a huge mallet and laughing maniacally.[20]
Happier than a Bodybuilder Directing Traffic: A smiling bodybuilder is standing in an intersection and directing traffic while striking poses.[21] This was the last commercial from the Get Happy, Get GEICO series to ever come on TV, having last aired on 19 March 2016.[22]
Happier than Christopher Columbus with Speedboats: Christopher Columbus is shown on a speeding motoboat, accompanied by two other boats, while a crew member looks seasick.[23]
Happier than Eddie Money running a travel agency: A family is shown sitting in front of a desk in an office. An excited Eddie Money is then shown behind the desk holding airline tickets, where he begins singing (a cappella), "Two Tickets to Paradise" while the family appears increasingly annoyed.[24]
Happier than a Witch at a Broom Factory: A witch is seen flying around on a broom inside of a broom factory. She lands and demands another broom from one of the employees and begins flying again, laughing and having fun.[25]
Happier than a Slinky on an Escalator: A Slinky is seen stepping backwards on an up escalator. While the Slinky goes backwards, others try to avoid it as they go to work and the slinky says "This is Awesome!"[26]
Happier than an Antelope with Nightvision Goggles: Two antelopes are seen watching a lion through nightvision goggles. The two are secretly laughing at the lion and his poor stealth skills (they incorrectly and sarcastically label the lion as "king of the jungle" – the correct term is "king of beasts").[27]
Happier than Dikembe Mutombo Blocking a Shot: Dikembe Mutombo appears blocking various things that people throw, such as a crumpled piece of paper, a pile of laundry, and a box of cereal. The GEICO Logo then appears and Mutombo knocks off the "G". It's "EICO" now.[28]
Happier than Paul Revere with a Cell phone: Paul Revere who is inside a home in Concord, Massachusetts, notices a bell ringing from a church. As he looks out the window, he calls on his cell phone and warns that the British are coming. Afterwards, he returns to his guests and plays charades.[29]
Happier than Dracula Volunteering at a Blood Drive: At a blood drive, Dracula Actor Frankie Ray asks a man his blood type and what he ate today. The man replies either A or B positive and that he ate Lebanese food. Dracula says that he loves the Lebanese. He then excitedly decides to skip the formalities and "get started". He is then seen following the man out at the end.[30]
Happier than the Pillsbury Doughboy on his way to a Baking Convention: At an airport, the Pillsbury Doughboy is going through airport security, but every time the security guard tries to pat him down, he is easily tickled. He promises to hold it together, but keeps failing. Once he gets on his way, the Doughboy sings along as Ronny and Jimmy continue playing the guitar.[31]
Happier than a Camel on Wednesday/Hump Day[32]: At an office, a camel asks workers what day it is. A woman (originally named Leslie) tells him that it is Hump day. The camel whoops with excitement.[33] This commercial soon received over 22 million views on YouTube and inspired a popular Internet meme. The camel appeared in the pregame show of Super Bowl XLVIII where he was named Caleb. Caleb also appeared with the Gecko in a crossover ad with M&M's.[34]

text: Museum of Modern Insurance[edit]

text: This campaign involves paintings in a museum encouraging their fellow paintings to switch to GEICO.

text:
A mountain climber in an "ACHIEVEMENT" motivational picture feels accomplished for climbing the mountain. The cat in the painting beneath says he saved hundreds on car insurance with GEICO, and draws a question mark next to "ACHIEVEMENT".
An excited cat tells a mouse on a teeter-totter that he saved a bunch on car insurance with GEICO, and that they should celebrate. The mouse thinks this is a bad idea. The cat launches the mouse into the air and prepares to eat him, but is beaten to it by an eagle in the motivational picture above.
A teacher asks his student to fill in the blank: "Fifteen Minutes could save you [blank] on car insurance." The student answers 9%, which the teacher says is incorrect and asks his pterodactyls, Steve and Rick, to "go to work," to which the student replies "Not again!".
A painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River notices a cat in front of them, and proceeds to ask the cat to get out of the way, claiming he doesn't want her to scratch the vessel, "for [he is] drifting, uninsured." She tells him that he needs to get insured right "meow," via calling GEICO. Her torso then falls off the painting to reveal a phone keypad, and one of the rowers pushes the buttons with his oar.
Dogs player poker ask for their friend called Rudy/Mr.Tickles, who is in a photo of him and his owner. The owner saved so much money by switching to GEICO that he wanted a photo to commemorate the occasion.
Uncle Sam talks to a family of people wearing "mom jeans".
A little girl asks her mother where babies come from, and in return the mother asks if her daughter knew that GEICO was saving people money for over 75 years. The mother then shouts "DINNER!" before the daughter can ask her question again.
Two 1980s valley girls fall for a band student whose grandparents have been saving money with GEICO for more than 75 years. The photo for the band student is the same photo used for the meme "PTSD Clarinet Boy".

text: "Did You Know?"[edit]

text: From mid-June 2013 to late 2014, a family of TV ads came on where one person reads a GEICO ad, which has the well-known tagline (often with the Gecko in it as well) and a second person says "Everybody knows that." to which the first person says, "Well, did you know ..." followed by an amusing (and fictional) "fact" which is then illustrated in a cutaway scene.[35] Prior to Did You Know Pinocchio Was a Bad Motivational Speaker?, the closing line was temporarily changed to "GEICO: 15 minutes could save you... well, you know."

text:
Did You Know That Some Owls Aren't That Wise?: A female owl is talking to her owl husband about having lunch with her co-worker Meghan, and the husband owl constantly responds "Who?"[36]
Did You Know Old MacDonald Was a Really Bad Speller?: Old MacDonald is a contestant in a spelling bee, and is asked to spell "cow". He spells it "C-O-W, E-I-E-I-O." The buzzer goes off, indicating that he's wrong, and he exclaims, "Dangnabbit" and exits the stage, exasperated (the "Dangnabbit" line would since then evolve into a viral quote).[37]
Did you know the Ancient Pyramids were actually a mistake?: An overseer is monitoring the construction of the Pyramids when he looks at the blueprints and sees that they were supposed to be cubes. He then says, "Uh-oh."[38]
Did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, it does make a sound?: An anthropomorphized tree starts to tip, leading the tree to start shouting that it's going to fall. As it falls, the tree screams until it hits the ground. The tree then asks, "A little help?"[39]
Did You Know That Houdini Couldn't Escape from Everything?: Houdini comes up with something stuck in between his fingers and can't escape from them. He says to his mom, "Help, you gotta get me out of this!"[40]
Did You Know There Is an Oldest Trick in the Book?: In the Medieval era, an old man reads to a young apprentice from a large book: "Trick Number One ... Lookest over there." The apprentice looks in the direction indicated, and the old man says, "Ha-ha! Made-est thou look. So end-eth the trick."[41]
Did You Know Auctioneers Make Bad Grocery store Clerks?: A cashier in a grocery store tells a customer what the total of her purchase is, then starts rapidly "auctioning" it, taking bids from the woman and the man in line behind her.[42]
Did You Know Pinocchio Was a Bad Motivational Speaker?: A life-size Pinocchio gives a speech about noticing untapped potential. He points to a select few saying, "You have potential", but his nose grows every time, shocking the audience and indicating that he was lying.[43] An extended version of this commercial was posted on YouTube. In it, Pinocchio begins feeling stressed out from his book failing, ultimately he decides to write a new book.
Did You Know Bad News Doesn't Always Travel Fast?: A boss, personified as a snail, fires one of his employees, Todd. He then says, "Well, gotta run", and slowly crawls away.[44]
Did You Know Game Show Hosts Should Only Host Game Shows?: A game show host delivers the wedding vows at a wedding, but he asks the bride if she takes her husband or a new sports car, at which point the camera cuts to the car being given away as a prize. She dumps her husband for the car right there at the altar.[45]
Did You Know Playing Cards with Kenny Rogers Gets Old Pretty Fast?: Rogers plays poker while singing the lyrics from "The Gambler", which annoys the others.[46] This was the last commercial from the Did You Know? series to ever be played on TV, having last aired on 30 November 2015.[47]
Did You Know Words Really Can Hurt You?: A cowboy breaks up with his girlfriend, and rides off into the sunset, but when the words "The End" appear, he crashes into the "E" in "End" and is knocked off his horse.[48]
Did You Know the Great Wall of China Wasn't Always So Great?: An army of Mongols ride up to a fence-sized Wall of China. After a few moments of contemplation, they simply step over it and proceed on their way.[49]
Did You Know Former Pro Football Player Ickey Woods Will Celebrate Almost Anything?: Woods is seen at a deli counter and does his touchdown dance, the Ickey Shuffle, and yells out, "Gonna get some cold cuts today!" when his number 44 is called.[50]
Did You Know Certain Cartoon Characters Should Never Have an Energy Drink?: A commercial for an energy drink is being filmed, starring the Tasmanian Devil; after drinking the product, he spins out of control and leaves the set. The GEICO ad appears to be over as an entirely different commercial in another room advertises the "Birds of America collection" (50 state bird hand-painted china plate collection). It is then promptly given a "bull in a china shop" treatment when Taz bursts through the wall from the other commercial and demolishes the plates and displays.[51]
Did You Know Genies Can Be Really Literal?: A man finds a genie in a lamp and wishes for "a million bucks", clearly meaning "$1 million". The genie proceeds to grant him a million male deers.[52] This bit was extended into a web series.

text: "It's what you do"[edit]

text: From late 2014 to 2017, a family of commercials featured people doing irrelevant or weird actions, while in the end the long-time endboard narrator says, "If (you're) [. . .], you [. . .]. It's what you do. If you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to GEICO. It's what you do." When the ads appear in a movie theater before the previews start, the second line would be replaced with, "If you're in the movie theater, you silence your cell phone. It's what you do."

text:
If You're in a Horror Movie, You Make Poor Decisions: Four teenagers representing characters in a generic horror movie are running from a madman near an eerie farmhouse. They argue about whether to hide in the basement or the attic of the house, and when one girl suggests they get into the conveniently running car just behind them, the others call her crazy. Someone else suggests they go into the barn filled with chainsaws, and as they hide there the madman lurking behind them takes off his mask and shakes his head at their stupidity. The advertisement ends with the teenagers running from the madman toward the cemetery.
If You're Salt-N-Pepa, You Tell People to Push It - Salt-N-Pepa sing "Push It" to various people, including a businessman at the entrance doors, a woman on an elevator, a pregnant woman practicing the Lamaze technique, football players pushing against tackling dummies, and a man mowing his front lawn.
If You're a Camel, You Put Up with This All the Time - In reference to the viral "Hump Day" ad, a bunch of people at the zoo quote the ad to the camels, who are annoyed by it. One camel, named Phil, even complains that it is not even Wednesday.
If Something Goes Wrong, You Find a Scapegoat - At a peanut butter factory, the machines act haywire. The boss asks who is to blame, and a worker points to a goat named Rick, who then screams.
If You're a Free Range Chicken, You Roam Free: A chicken travels the world and texts selfie MMS's to its owners while "Ride Away" by Roy Orbison plays.
If You're a Cat, You Ignore People: A guy out in the desert falls into some quicksand, sees a cat and asks it for help, but the cat just stands there.
If You're Dora the Explorer, You Explore: A group of people struggle against harsh polar conditions to travel to the South Pole, but just as they're about to plant their flag to stake their claim, they find that Dora the Explorer and Boots are already there to greet them. The travelers walk away while Dora and Boots do a dance and say, "You did it! Yay!"
If You're a Fisherman, You Tell Tales: A fisherman exaggerates the day he caught a small fish.
If Your Boss Stops By, You Act Like You're Working: In medieval times, a group of armored knights led by an imposing leader enter a room lit only by torches. He's come to check on the progress of his men with their interrogation of a prisoner who is strapped to a large table. The two men sternly reply that the prisoner will tell them everything very shortly as they each hold a sharp, pointy weapon. As soon as the leader and his entourage take off, however, a bunch of other men emerge from their hiding spots and the group resumes their ping-pong match on the table. As it turns out, the prisoner is acting as their net and keeping score the entire time.
If You're the Guy from the Operation Game, You Get Operated On: A patient is rushed into an operating room; he's said to have several foreign objects in his body. The surgeon tries to remove one with tweezers, and a buzzer sounds. The patient turns out to be Cavity Sam.
If You're a Golf Commentator, You Whisper: Commentators are quietly describing the action during a golf tournament, when a kraken suddenly reaches out of the water hazard and grabs the golfer and some other people. The commentators continue to describe the scene, calmly and quietly.
If You're the Band Europe, You Love a Final Countdown: In a company break room, an employee cooks a burrito in a microwave oven; suddenly, the rock band Europe is in the room with him, singing "The Final Countdown" while the timer on the microwave counts down.
If You're Peter Pan, You Stay Young Forever: Peter flies in at a high school reunion that shows people who graduated in 1965 at their 50th class reunion.
If You're a Mom, You Call at the Worst Time – An action movie hero is saving the day when a call from his mother inconveniences him.
If You're a Couple, You Fight Over Directions – Tarzan and Jane are lost. Tarzan is confident about his way, but Jane asks Cheeta for directions.
If You Have Alligator Arms, You Avoid Picking up the Check – A group of people at a Chinese restaurant are given their bill, and a talking alligator suggests he take care of it, but he cannot reach it because of his tiny arms.
If You Sit on Your Phone, You Butt Dial People – A man is about to propose to his girlfriend, but her brother calls her. She answers, but it turns out to be a pocket dial from him at a sporting event.
If You're a Parrot, You Repeat Things – A parrot on a pirate's shoulder repeats everything the pirate said privately to everyone, causing the crew to mutiny against him. The parrot even repeats the voiceover's GEICO slogan "It's What You Do".
If You Want Someone to Leave You Alone, You Pretend Like You're Sleeping – Prince Charming attempts to awaken Sleeping Beauty from her slumber, but fails. After he leaves, Sleeping Beauty reveals she was faking just so she could catch up on her reality television.
If You Taste Something Bad, You Want Someone Else to Try It – Some talking raccoons are rummaging through the garbage, and one of them comes upon something foul and wants the others to taste it as well. This commercial appeared in the 2017 film The Dark Tower.
If You Walk the Walk, You Talk the Talk – A western sheriff confronts the villains and tells them to vamoose, and speaks his every move every time he walks.
If You're a Stuntman, You Cheat Death – A stunt man and the Grim Reaper compete in a 10K, but neither play fair.
If You're Boyz II Men, You'd Make Anything Sound Good – At a pharmacy, the Grammy-winning R&B group sing the possible side effects of a drug.
If You're a Ref, You Way Over-explain Things – A referee yells his order to a waiter at a restaurant.

text: "Unskippable" freeze frames[edit]

text: Debuted in 2015, these ads employ a satire of the technique of frame freezing, by showing live actors attempting to mimic a freeze-frame, often in awkward positions and sometimes assisted by intentionally visible stunt tools, such as suspension cords when paused in mid-air. The premise is that when viewing ads on sites like YouTube, usually a viewer cannot skip the ad until 5 seconds in then the commercial announcer saying "You can't skip this GEICO ad because it's already over" then the commercial announcer saying the GEICO slogan. If a user watches the entire video, events turn disastrous.

text:
Family: At the dinner table, a mother tells her family that they can "thank the savings". During the freeze-frame, the family dog starts eating from the father's plate.
High Five: Two friends celebrate saving money by performing a jumping high-five. During the freeze-frame, the stunt wires become visible and one of the actors' feet catches fire.
Cleaning Crew: A janitor mishears a businessman saying "savings". He loses control of the vacuum cleaner which runs over the cord and causes the electricity to short out.
Elevator: Two businessmen shake hands in an elevator. A woman enters the elevator asking to get off at the second floor, but the men are in a freeze-frame so she must press the button herself.

text:
Preceded by
The Epic Split feat. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sorry, I Spent It on Myself
Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix Winner
2015
Succeeded by
Love freebies? Get them legally aka Shoplifters

text: Fast Forward[edit]

text: Debuted in 2016, these ads show the beginning portion of a 45–90-second ad before a blue screen disclaimer appears telling the viewers that the ad is being fast forward to the end portion so that they can get to their video faster. If an extended version of the ad or just the regular 15-second ad is shown on sites like YouTube, the viewer is usually welcome to skip the ad when 5 seconds have been used.

text:
Forest: In the lodge in the forest, two brothers were sawing a log when they were talking about savings from GEICO until a disclaimer appears skipping to one of the brothers hugging a bear thinking that "he's my brother".
Hike: Two hikers were walking a mountain telling that GEICO has been around for a very long time until a disclaimer appears skipping to the hikers being taken by an eagle while one of them holds a saxophone claiming that "not everyone likes smooth jazz!"
Lake: Two fishermen were talking in the canoe in the lake talking about 24/7 claims from GEICO until a disclaimer appears skipping to the fishermen being hung as plaques in a fish's house calling each other "gullible".
Going up: Almost similar to the "Unskippable" version of "Elevator", two women and a man discuss about their savings from GEICO until a disclaimer appears skipping two bald women coming out from the elevator leaving the man behind and declaring that they are "taking the stairs" next time.

text: Surprising[edit]

text: Debuted in 2016, these ads depict celebrities or historical figures in outlandish situations.

text: TV[edit]

text:
Playing Marco Polo with Marco Polo: Two kids play Marco Polo in their pool to the confusion of the historical Marco Polo, who eventually joins them in playing.
Ice-T at a Lemonade Stand: The famous American rapper runs a lemonade stand with two young boys but gets frustrated when customers repeatedly ask "Is that Ice T (iced tea) and yells that it's lemonade.
A Sumo Wrestler Figure skating: A Sumo Wrestler skates around and does some silly moves, including his signature "Flying Dutchman" only to get an applause from the crowd.
Tiki Barber Running a Barber Shop: Another barber says football plays before giving a buzzer to Tiki Barber, who sprints to each client and shaves a large part of their hair off. Once Tiki is done, he starts to celebrate and a person waiting leaves when he asks "Who's next?"
Ordering a Getaway Car with an App: A group of robbers escape with valuables but get upset when they find out their getaway car they ordered on a rideshare app is late. One remains optimistic and comments on how the driver's name, Randy, is trustworthy, but when the car comes, the police catch up to them.
Caesar on a Caesar Salad: A man portraying as Julius Caesar stands on top of a Caesar salad on the table in a restaurant.
Runway models on a runway: A group of notorious models delay a flight to hold a fashion show on an airport runway.
The Running of the Bulldogs: A runner trips in the Running of the Bulls race and faces imminent danger from...bulldogs.
A Triangle solo: An orchestra is performing Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, when the trianglist begins stealing the spotlight. (Side note: None of the Brandenburg Concertos call for a triangle.)
Casual Fridays at Buckingham Palace - A British royal guard slacker takes the place of a formal royal guard.
Randy Jackson Judging a Dog Show - The ex-American Idol judge gives his trademark critiques to a dog show.
Washington Crossing the Delaware Turnpike - The general holds up traffic by having his men drag his boat across the turnpike.
Manatees in Novelty Tees - A family at an aquarium visits the manatee exhibit, and sees that all the manatees are wearing T-shirts with slogans on them like "Come at Me, Bro" and "I'm with Stupid".

text: Radio[edit]

text: A Computer with a Virus: A computer suddenly comes down with a (literal) virus, admitting he ate

text: spoiled Oysters Rockefeller.

text:
A Really Charming Snake Charmer:
A Fortune Bank Teller: A man goes to the bank, but the teller is a gypsy woman who tells him his future.
Supermarket Beatboxing: A bored supermarket employee, told cleanup is needed in one of the aisles, begins beatboxing the announcement, and then continues the beatboxing with various other announcements (such as informing shoppers of a parked minivan with its headlights on). The spot won the Westwood One Sports Sounds Awards Media Choice Award for best commercial heard during the radio network's coverage of Super Bowl LII. [53]
The Wicked Witch of the West on the Water Slide:
An Emotional Rollercoaster:

text: Great Answer[edit]

text: These ads show a person seemingly in trouble, until they state that switching to GEICO could save you money on car insurance; at which point this unrelated answer is accepted as a great answer.

text:
Courtroom: A defendant in court is accused of robbing a safe. The prosecution has fingerprint evidence, photo evidence, and even a Twitter post using #JustRobbedTheSafe. The defendant's response is to tell everyone that switching to GEICO could save them money on car insurance, at which point he is dismissed.
Undercover: An undercover agent, wearing a disguise, is caught. When forced to explain himself, he says that you can save money on car insurance, at which point the people he was spying on let him go.
Meteor: After it is discovered that a meteor is heading toward earth, one of the people in the room tells everybody that switching to GEICO could save them money.
Adrift and Hungry: There are three men in a lifeboat, starving when one of them notices cheese on one of the men's beard. The man simply mentions that switching to GEICO could save them money. At the end, a fish jumps into their raft and they fight over it.
He-Man vs. Skeletor: He-Man and his posse are about to defeat Skeletor, until Skeletor tells them they should switch to GEICO and makes his escape.

text: Radio[edit]

text:
Painting: A man is showing a woman his new painting and asks for her opinion. Instead, she tells him that switching to GEICO could save money on car insurance.
Call-in Show: A woman is hosting a talk radio show, until the guy she once dated calls in asking why she never called back, so she says switching to GEICO could save hundreds on car insurance.
Trivia Contest: The question being asked is "What color is the White House?" When the contestant does not know the answer to this simple question, he says that switching to GEICO could save money on car insurance.
Love Advice:

text: Take a Closer Look[edit]

text: Since late 2016, a series of TV ads shows two people talking about GEICO, and one of them saying he/she should "take a closer look" at it; the camera then focuses on an inanimate object or animal in the background, which starts talking about the insurance company.

text: Plate: In this ad, painted figures on a decorative plate – a woman on a balcony and a man with a guitar in the garden below – talk about GEICO, and then the man plays music while the woman goes back inside.

text: Cuckoo clock: In this ad, moving figures on a cuckoo clock talk about GEICO and also about the futility of their repetitive actions.[54]

text: RV: Three bumper stickers on the back of a recreational vehicle talk about GEICO, and the one shaped like a moose is shocked to learn that he's not a real moose.

text:
Pigeon: A group of pigeons on a telephone wire talk about GEICO saying they have umbrella coverage, which gets one pigeon to say a person below them will wish he had an umbrella and to "fire at will." He later becomes frustrated at how none of the other pigeons understand that "fire at will" is a saying.
Fleas: Two fleas (actually two humans in badly-made flea suits) play badminton on a golden retriever until a disagreement results in the loss of a shuttlecock.

text: You Had One Job[edit]

text: Since 2017 on ESPN, the VO's tagline: "You had one job, brought to you by GEICO" and referee Shaun Irving blows his whistle to do jobs right.

text: Expect more[edit]

text: Since 2017, there have been ads in which one person is talking to another person about switching to GEICO and during each cut, the one who switched to GEICO gets more stuff.

text:
Bro - Two "bros" working out in the gym, who keep using "bro-" words ("broheem", "Teddy Brosevelt", etc.), the one who switched to GEICO keeps gaining more muscles.
Sandcastle - Two dads are building sandcastles. Every time it cuts back to the dad who switched to GEICO, his sandcastle gets bigger and more elaborate until it becomes an actual sand-mansion complete with a sand-fountain and sand-butler.
Christmas lights - Two guys putting up Christmas lights discuss switching to GEICO, the one who switched to GEICO's house becomes more and more elaborate, to the point where it is seen from space.
Still-life drawing - At a painting class, a man and a woman discuss switching to GEICO, while the woman's drawing becomes more detailed, and at the end, even comes to life.

text: We Interrupt Your Life[edit]

text: Since 2018, the announcer proclaims interrupting your life for multiple GEICO ads at the end of each ad and proclaims "We interrupt this message to bring you our logo."

text: Count on GEICO[edit]

text: Since 2017, there has been a new campaign in which humorous situations are presented as spokesman Steve Tom says, "As long as [such and such], you can count on GEICO saving folk money."

text:
As Long As Sloths are Slow...: A three-toed sloth is playing Pictionary with a group of humans. Of course, he only draws a single line, due to his speed, leaving the contestants to guess random things.
As Long As People Misplace Their Keys...: A space captain is about to fight a huge battle, but he ends up not being able to find his keys.
As Long AS GPS Can Still Get You Lost...: Two Emperor penguins separate from the Great Penguin Migration and use an unreliable mapping app on their phone.
As Long As Hecklers Love to Heckle...: At a jousting tournament, an audience member makes fun of one of the competitors, much to the delight of everyone else in the audience.
As Long as People Talk Baby Talk to Dogs...: McGruff the Crime Dog wants to be taken seriously in a police precinct, but the others act very condescending towards him.

text: A GEICO Commercial?[edit]

text: Since 2018, there has been a new campaign that breaks the fourth wall revealing the actors are actually in an advertisement for GEICO, as revealed by spokesman David Ebert.

text:
Weekend Gardening
Shopping Trip
Tea Time
Couple in the Park
Family Dinner
Vending Machine