document_title: GEICO advertising campaigns

question_text: who does the voice of the gecko on geico

question_tokens: who does the voice of the gecko on geico

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


document_title: Badrinath Ki Dulhania

question_text: badrinath ki dulhania alia bhatt name in movie

root

text: Badrinath Ki Dulhania

text: Plot[edit]

text: Badrinath "Badri" Bansal (Varun Dhawan) is the younger son of a wealthy family in Jhansi. In a flashback, we see that Badri's older brother, Alok (Yash Sinha) was in love with a girl and was going to leave the family for her (because their father disapproved), but decided against it after their father's first heart attack. Now Alok is married to Urmila (Swetha Basu Prasad) through an arranged marriage and she is not allowed to work despite being very intelligent and professionally trained, more than Alok himself. Alok is also depressed at having to leave his love and be forced into a marriage, so spends a lot of time drinking. Badri fears the same fate for himself so when he sees Vaidehi Trivedi (Alia Bhatt) at a wedding, he becomes obsessed with her and makes it his mission to marry her with his father's approval.

tag: p

text: Vaidehi is also clearly more intelligent than Badri. She has a full education and is secretly training to become a flight attendant while Badri only passed the tenth grade. She's initially uninterested in getting married and is even offended by his marriage offer. But when Badri helps Vaidehi's older sister, Kritika find a husband and even resolves a dowry crisis, Vaidehi agrees to marry him. On their wedding day, however, Vaidehi never shows. Badri is heartbroken and his father is furious. He commands Badri to find Vaidehi and bring her back so that they can "hang her from the ceiling." Despite being afraid of his father's words, Badri goes to Mumbai to find Vaidehi, where he discovers that she's already moved to Singapore for a flight attendant training program.

text: Badri shows up on Vaidehi's doorstep in Singapore and kidnaps her. On the way, he pulls over and lets her out of the car trunk and they have an argument. Badri is furious at her for leaving him at the altar and she apologizes, trying to assure him that the reason she left was not because of him. Badri grabs her by the throat when a police car pulls up and takes them to the police station. At the police station, Vaidehi covers for Badri despite him having kidnapped her and attempted to choke her. Over the next few days, Badri stalks Vaidehi. His brother calls and tells him that his father has started looking for other brides. This terrifies Badri and he attempts entry into Vaidehi's workplace. She stops him and tells him she'll marry him only if he can convince his father to let her work and live in Singapore. Badri gets drunk that night and causes a scene outside Vaidehi's residential building and they have to go to the police again, where this time Vaidehi has to pay $1500 to bail him out.

text: Badri moves into Vaidehi's apartment where she cares for him by cooking for him before leaving for work every day, which humbles him. They spend time together with friends and tour Singapore together. Over time Badri begins to respect Vaidehi's independence and grows impressed by her job and intelligence. He also remembers his sister in law and feels sorry that she doesn't get to work. Badri and Vaidehi begin to spend more time together which causes them to grow closer. When his father calls, Badri lies and tells him that he didn't find Vaidehi. When Badri receives his passport back and leaves for India, Vaidehi comes to miss him and becomes depressed by his absence.

text: Back in Jhansi, Badri's sister-in-law is pregnant and the father holds a mega-pooja to ensure a boy is born. Badri feels sorry for his sister in law and misses Vaidehi at the same time. Before the pooja, he gets severely drunk and berates his father for being disrespectful to women. He blames his father for being the reason that he can't have Vaidehi when suddenly he sees Vaidehi from the corner of his eye. She tells him that she loves him and wants to marry him. Together they stand up to his dad and tell him that they will get married and Vaidehi will work as she pleases regardless of whether he agrees or not.

text: In the epilogue, it is shown that Badri and Vaidehi maintain a long distance relationship while she finishes her training program in Singapore before moving back to India and starting her own flight attendant training center. Badri's sister in law gives birth to twins, one boy and girl, and it is shown that so far his father has been treating both of them equally. She also starts working in the family's car showroom with Alok and even gets her own office. Badri and Vaidehi promise not to collect any dowry for any of their children.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Varun Dhawan as Badrinath Bansal (Badri)
Alia Bhatt as Vaidehi Trivedi
Sahil Vaid as Somdev
Yash Sinha as Aloknath Bansal (Alok)
Shweta Basu Prasad as Urmila Aloknath Bansal
Sukhmani Lamba as Kritika Trivedi
Aakanksha Singh as Kiran
Gauahar Khan as Laxmi Shankar
Aparshakti Khurana as Bhushan
Rituraj Singh (actor) as Badrinath's father
Swanand Kirkire as Vaidehi's father
Kanupriya Pandit as Vaidehi's mother
Atul Narang as Sagar
Gaurav Pandey as Gurmeet

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Badrinath Ki Dulhania marks the second installment of a franchise that began with the romantic comedy Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), which was also directed by Shashank Khaitan, produced by Karan Johar for Dharma Productions and starred Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles. The film was first announced on 3 May 2016 with the release of an online motion poster featuring Dhawan and Bhatt at a local village fair.[7][8] Principal photography also began on the same day. Some of the scenes were also shot at the Ghatotkach Circle, Kishore Sagar Lake and Seven Wonders Park in Kota, Rajasthan.[9]

text: Themes[edit]

text: Misogyny, patriarchy, and gender roles in India are the common themes with the film focusing on the dowry system and stigma against women in the workplace. There is also allusion to violence against women and honor killings as Badri's father makes multiple references to killing Vaidehi and Badri is violent towards her in one scene.

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Badrinath Ki Dulhania

Soundtrack album by Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi and Akhil Sachdeva

Released
14 February 2017

Genre
Feature film soundtrack

Length
20:04

Language
Hindi

Label
T-Series

Producer
Hiroo Yash Johar
Karan Johar

tag: table

text: The music for the film has been composed by Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi, Akhil Sachdeva and Bappi Lahiri while the lyrics have been written by Kumaar, Shabbir Ahmed, Akhil Sachdeva and Badshah & Indeevar. The "Tamma Tamma" song which was originally composed by Bappi Lahiri from the 1990 film Thanedaar has been recreated by Tanishk Bagchi for this film. The soundtrack which includes 5 songs was released on 14 February 2017 by T-Series.[10]

text:
Track listing

No.
Title
Lyrics
Music
Singer(s)
Length

1.
"Aashiq Surrender Hua"
Shabbir Ahmed
Amaal Mallik
Amaal Mallik, Shreya Ghoshal
4:10

2.
"Roke Na Ruke Naina"
Kumaar
Amaal Mallik
Arijit Singh
4:39

3.
"Humsafar"
Akhil Sachdeva
Akhil Sachdeva
Akhil Sachdeva, Mansheel Gujral
4:29

4.
"Badri Ki Dulhania (Title Track)"
Shabbir Ahmed
Tanishk Bagchi
Dev Negi, Neha Kakkar, Monali Thakur, Ikka Singh, Rajnigandha Shekhawat
3:27

5.
"Tamma Tamma Again"
Indeevar, Badshah
Bappi Lahiri, Tanishk Bagchi
Bappi Lahiri, Anuradha Paudwal, Badshah
3:19

Total length:
20:04

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: Nihit Bhave from Times of India rated the film 3.5/5 and stated "Badrinath Ki Dulhania is a rucksack full of radioactive social issues handled cautiously". He also praised Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhat's chemistry saying, " Together, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are the best thing that could have happened to our screens".[11] Rohit Rats from Hindustan Times gave film 2.5/5 and noted that Varun Dhawan by portraying a Jhansi boy, reminds of Govinda.[12] Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express gave film 3/5 saying, "Alia Bhatt is pitch-perfect as dulhania with a mind of her own. Varun Dhawan impresses as a boy-struggling-to-be-a-man. Together, they offer us a flavourful romance which takes down patriarchy."[13] Tushar Joshi from DNA India described the film as light, entertaining and likeable. He writes, "Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt prove that on screen chemistry can be enough sometimes to keep you engaged in an average plot with a predictable narrative".[14]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Domestic[edit]

text: The film collected ₹125.25 crore in the first week [3] of release becoming fourth highest Indian first week collecting film of 2017.[15] The film was third highest domestic opener for both Bhatt[16] and Dhawan.[17]


document_title: It Was a Very Good Year

question_text: frank sinatra it was a very good year album

text: It Was a Very Good Year

text: Description[edit]

text: The song recounts the type of girls the singer had relationships with at various years in his life: when he was 17, "small-town girls on the village green"; at 21, "city girls who lived up the stair"; at 35, "blue-blooded girls of independent means". Each of these years he calls "very good". In the song's final verse, the singer reflects that he is older, and in the autumn of his years, and he thinks back on his entire life "as vintage wine". All of these romances were sweet to him, like a wine from a very good (i.e., vintage) year.

text: Inspiration[edit]

text: Ervin Drake's inspiration to write the song was his then wife-to-be, Edith Vincent Bermaine. She was a showgirl, whom he had dated, and eventually married twenty years after the song was written.[5]

text: Recordings[edit]

text:
The Kingston Trio introduced the song on their album Goin' Places (1961). This is the recording that influenced Frank Sinatra to want to record his own version.[2][6]
Lonnie Donegan released it as a 45 rpm single on Pye Records, in 1963.
The Turtles recorded a version on their debut album, It Ain't Me Babe (1965). They also released it as a single in Canada (Quality 1791) in January 1966.
Wes Montgomery included a version of the song in his album Goin' Out Of My Head (1965).
Chad & Jeremy included the song into their Second album (January, 1965). It was the last track on their last UK LP so it seems to correlate with the song title somehow.[7] They also released it as a single in The US (World Artists 1052) & Canada (Capitol 72239) as "A Very Good Year"
Frank Sinatra on his September of My Years album (1965) and a stripped-down performance on his Sinatra at the Sands live album (1966)
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass included a melancholy instrumental version of the song on their album What Now My Love (1966)
Gábor Szabó recorded a version in his album Spellbinder (1966).
Eddie Harris recorded a version in his album Mean Greens (1966).
William Shatner did a spoken-word cover of this song interspersed with lines from Hamlet on his album The Transformed Man (1968).
Lou Rawls covered this song in 1966, produced by David Axelrod and included on his hit album Soulin' as part of a "Memory Lane" medley. Rawls also performed it just before his death on 2006's "An Evening of Stars" telethon, backed by the Rickey Minor Band.
Harry James released a version in 1967 on his album Our Leader! (Dot DLP 3801 and DLP 25801).
Lennie Hibbert included this as the last song on the album "Creation" (Studio One) mislabeled as "Nature Boy. " The brilliant Jackie Mitoo organ instrumental is accompanied only by hand drums.
Boris Karloff performed a moving rendition of the song on The Jonathan Winters Show in 1968, at the age of 80.
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In did a skit wherein Dan Rowan changes army uniforms from World War II, Korea, and then Vietnam as the song plays in the background.
In 1971, Michael Jackson sang a parody of this song in a skit with Diana Ross during the Diana! TV Special.
Baden Powell recorded an instrumental version of it, titled "It Was A Wonderful Year", on his album Grandezza on Guitar (1971)
Della Reese performed the song at the Playboy Club in Chicago and was later featured on her LP, One More Time!.
In the 78th episode of The Muppet Show, Statler and Waldorf performed the song from their box.
British pop star Robbie Williams recorded a version for his album Swing When You're Winning (2001), in duet with Sinatra's original vocals. The instrumental track was also sampled from Sinatra's original recording.
Frank Sinatra's version of the song was featured in the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever (1991).
In a 1993 episode of The Simpsons ("Duffless"), Homer sings a parody of this song entitled "I Drank Some Very Good Beer", recounting the first beer he ever purchased (with a fake ID; his name was Brian McGee) and he "stayed up listening to Queen."
The Flaming Lips covered this song on the compilation Chairman of the Board (Interpretations of Songs Made Famous by Frank Sinatra) (1993).
The Reverend Horton Heat covered the song in 2000 and released it as a single to promote the album Spend a Night in the Box (2000).
It has been adapted in French, as "C'était une très bonne année", by Robert Charlebois on his album Doux sauvage (2001).
Paul Young included a cover version on his album The Essential Paul Young (2003)
Ray Charles covered the song (as a duet with Willie Nelson) on his album Genius Loves Company (2004).
In 2005, They Might Be Giants parodied this song on their first ever podcast.
An instrumental version appears on the album Big City (2005) by Dave Stryker.
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band recorded a version for the album The Phat Pack (2006).
Irish folk singer/songwriter Ronnie Drew included a coverversion of the song on his album There's life in the old dog yet (2006)
Brett Anderson sang it live as can be heard on the album Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall (2007). At the end of the song Brett jokingly says that he wrote it last night.
Dee Snider of Twisted Sister recorded a version for the album SIN-atra (2011), a heavy metal cover album of Frank Sinatra songs
A recording was included on Alfie Boe's album Alfie (2011).
Alain Resnais used the Sinatra recording over the closing credits of his film You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (2012). The song plays no role in the film proper, but in You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (French title: Vous n'avez encore rien vu) has similar themes and tone of autumnal reminiscence as the Sinatra recording — a dead stage director invites his actors to a wake and performance of a play they all had acted in for him.
Shirley Bassey recorded it on her album Hello Like Before (2014), produced by Stuart Barr.
Mel Torme hosted a 1971 summer replacement television show named after the song, using it as open and close music


document_title: Power station

question_text: where was the first power station built and why

text: Power station

text: History[edit]

text: In 1868 a hydro electric power station was designed and built by Lord Armstrong at Cragside, England. It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos. The electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings.[1]

text: In the early 1870s Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a generator powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry.[2]

text: In the autumn of 1882, a central station providing public power was built in Godalming, England. It was proposed after the town failed to reach an agreement on the rate charged by the gas company, so the town council decided to use electricity. It used hydroelectric power for street lighting and household lighting. The system was not a commercial success and the town reverted to gas.[3]

text: In 1882 the world's first coal-fired public power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, was built in London, a project of Thomas Edison organized by Edward Johnson. A Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 125-horsepower steam engine that drove a 27-ton generator. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, which was the monopoly of the gas companies. The customers included the City Temple and the Old Bailey. Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post Office, but this could not be reached though the culverts. Johnson arranged for the supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate.[4]

text: In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide electric lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. The station ran until destroyed by fire in 1890. The station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. Because of the DC distribution, the service area was small, limited by voltage drop in the feeders. The War of Currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, although some DC systems persisted to the end of the 20th century. DC systems with a service radius of a mile (kilometer) or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations.

text: AC systems used a wide range of frequencies depending on the type of load; lighting load using higher frequencies, and traction systems and heavy motor load systems preferring lower frequencies. The economics of central station generation improved greatly when unified light and power systems, operating at a common frequency, were developed. The same generating plant that fed large industrial loads during the day, could feed commuter railway systems during rush hour and then serve lighting load in the evening, thus improving the system load factor and reducing the cost of electrical energy overall. Many exceptions existed, generating stations were dedicated to power or light by the choice of frequency, and rotating frequency changers and rotating converters were particularly common to feed electric railway systems from the general lighting and power network.

text: Throughout the first few decades of the 20th century central stations became larger, using higher steam pressures to provide greater efficiency, and relying on interconnections of multiple generating stations to improve reliability and cost. High-voltage AC transmission allowed hydroelectric power to be conveniently moved from distant waterfalls to city markets. The advent of the steam turbine in central station service, around 1906, allowed great expansion of generating capacity. Generators were no longer limited by the power transmission of belts or the relatively slow speed of reciprocating engines, and could grow to enormous sizes. For example, Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti planned what would have been the largest reciprocating steam engine ever built for a proposed new central station, but scrapped the plans when turbines became available in the necessary size. Building power systems out of central stations required combinations of engineering skill and financial acumen in equal measure. Pioneers of central station generation include George Westinghouse and Samuel Insull in the United States, Ferranti and Charles Hesterman Merz in UK, and many others.

text: Thermal power stations[edit]

text: In thermal power stations, mechanical power is produced by a heat engine that transforms thermal energy, often from combustion of a fuel, into rotational energy. Most thermal power stations produce steam, so they are sometimes called steam power stations. Not all thermal energy can be transformed into mechanical power, according to the second law of thermodynamics; therefore, there is always heat lost to the environment. If this loss is employed as useful heat, for industrial processes or district heating, the power plant is referred to as a cogeneration power plant or CHP (combined heat-and-power) plant. In countries where district heating is common, there are dedicated heat plants called heat-only boiler stations. An important class of power stations in the Middle East uses by-product heat for the desalination of water.

text: The efficiency of a thermal power cycle is limited by the maximum working fluid temperature produced. The efficiency is not directly a function of the fuel used. For the same steam conditions, coal-, nuclear- and gas power plants all have the same theoretical efficiency. Overall, if a system is on constantly (base load) it will be more efficient than one that is used intermittently (peak load). Steam turbines generally operate at higher efficiency when operated at full capacity.

text: Besides use of reject heat for process or district heating, one way to improve overall efficiency of a power plant is to combine two different thermodynamic cycles in a combined cycle plant. Most commonly, exhaust gases from a gas turbine are used to generate steam for a boiler and a steam turbine. The combination of a "top" cycle and a "bottom" cycle produces higher overall efficiency than either cycle can attain alone.

text: Classification[edit]

text: By heat source[edit]

text:
Fossil-fuel power stations may also use a steam turbine generator or in the case of natural gas-fired plants may use a combustion turbine. A coal-fired power station produces heat by burning coal in a steam boiler. The steam drives a steam turbine and generator that then produces electricity. The waste products of combustion include ash, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. Some of the gases can be removed from the waste stream to reduce pollution.
Nuclear power plants[5] use the heat generated in a nuclear reactor's core (by the fission process) to create steam which then operates a steam turbine and generator. About 20 percent of electric generation in the USA is produced by nuclear power plants.
Geothermal power plants use steam extracted from hot underground rocks. These rocks are heated by the decay of radioactive material in the Earth's crust.
Biomass-fuelled power plants may be fuelled by waste from sugar cane, municipal solid waste, landfill methane, or other forms of biomass.
In integrated steel mills, blast furnace exhaust gas is a low-cost, although low-energy-density, fuel.
Waste heat from industrial processes is occasionally concentrated enough to use for power generation, usually in a steam boiler and turbine.
Solar thermal electric plants use sunlight to boil water and produce steam which turns the generator.

text: By prime mover[edit]

text:
Steam turbine plants use the dynamic pressure generated by expanding steam to turn the blades of a turbine. Almost all large non-hydro plants use this system. About 90 percent of all electric power produced in the world is through use of steam turbines.[6]
Gas turbine plants use the dynamic pressure from flowing gases (air and combustion products) to directly operate the turbine. Natural-gas fuelled (and oil fueled) combustion turbine plants can start rapidly and so are used to supply "peak" energy during periods of high demand, though at higher cost than base-loaded plants. These may be comparatively small units, and sometimes completely unmanned, being remotely operated. This type was pioneered by the UK, Princetown[7] being the world's first, commissioned in 1959.
Combined cycle plants have both a gas turbine fired by natural gas, and a steam boiler and steam turbine which use the hot exhaust gas from the gas turbine to produce electricity. This greatly increases the overall efficiency of the plant, and many new baseload power plants are combined cycle plants fired by natural gas.
Internal combustion reciprocating engines are used to provide power for isolated communities and are frequently used for small cogeneration plants. Hospitals, office buildings, industrial plants, and other critical facilities also use them to provide backup power in case of a power outage. These are usually fuelled by diesel oil, heavy oil, natural gas, and landfill gas.
Microturbines, Stirling engine and internal combustion reciprocating engines are low-cost solutions for using opportunity fuels, such as landfill gas, digester gas from water treatment plants and waste gas from oil production.

text: By duty[edit]

text: Power plants that can be dispatched (scheduled) to provide energy to a system include:

text:
Base load power plants run nearly continually to provide that component of system load that doesn't vary during a day or week. Baseload plants can be highly optimized for low fuel cost, but may not start or stop quickly during changes in system load. Examples of base-load plants would include large modern coal-fired and nuclear generating stations, or hydro plants with a predictable supply of water.
Peaking power plants meet the daily peak load, which may only be for one or two hours each day. While their incremental operating cost is always higher than base load plants, they are required to ensure security of the system during load peaks. Peaking plants include simple cycle gas turbines and sometimes reciprocating internal combustion engines, which can be started up rapidly when system peaks are predicted. Hydroelectric plants may also be designed for peaking use.
Load following power plants can economically follow the variations in the daily and weekly load, at lower cost than peaking plants and with more flexibility than baseload plants.

text: Non-dispatchable plants include such sources as wind and solar energy; while their long-term contribution to system energy supply is predictable, on a short-term (daily or hourly) base their energy must be used as available since generation cannot be deferred. Contractual arrangements ("take or pay") with independent power producers or system interconnections to other networks may be effectively non-dispatchable.

text: Cooling towers[edit]

text: All thermal power plants produce waste heat energy as a byproduct of the useful electrical energy produced. The amount of waste heat energy equals or exceeds the amount of energy converted into useful electricity. Gas-fired power plants can achieve as much as 65 percent conversion efficiency, while coal and oil plants achieve around 30 to 49 percent. The waste heat produces a temperature rise in the atmosphere, which is small compared to that produced by greenhouse-gas emissions from the same power plant. Natural draft wet cooling towers at many nuclear power plants and large fossil fuel-fired power plants use large hyperboloid chimney-like structures (as seen in the image at the right) that release the waste heat to the ambient atmosphere by the evaporation of water.

text: However, the mechanical induced-draft or forced-draft wet cooling towers in many large thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, fossil-fired power plants, petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, geothermal, biomass and waste-to-energy plants use fans to provide air movement upward through downcoming water, and are not hyperboloid chimney-like structures. The induced or forced-draft cooling towers are typically rectangular, box-like structures filled with a material that enhances the mixing of the upflowing air and the downflowing water.[8][9]

text: In areas with restricted water use, a dry cooling tower or directly air-cooled radiators may be necessary, since the cost or environmental consequences of obtaining make-up water for evaporative cooling would be prohibitive. These coolers have lower efficiency and higher energy consumption to drive fans, compared to a typical wet, evaporative cooling tower.

text: Once-through cooling systems[edit]

text: Electric companies often prefer to use cooling water from the ocean, a lake, or a river, or a cooling pond, instead of a cooling tower. This single pass or once-through cooling system can save the cost of a cooling tower and may have lower energy costs for pumping cooling water through the plant's heat exchangers. However, the waste heat can cause thermal pollution as the water is discharged. Power plants using natural bodies of water for cooling are designed with mechanisms such as fish screens, to limit intake of organisms into the cooling machinery. These screens are only partially effective and as a result billions of fish and other aquatic organisms are killed by power plants each year.[10][11] For example, the cooling system at the Indian Point Energy Center in New York kills over a billion fish eggs and larvae annually.[12]

text: A further environmental impact is that aquatic organisms which adapt to the warmer discharge water may be injured if the plant shuts down in cold weather.

text: Water consumption by power stations is a developing issue.[13]

text: In recent years, recycled wastewater, or grey water, has been used in cooling towers. The Calpine Riverside and the Calpine Fox power stations in Wisconsin as well as the Calpine Mankato power station in Minnesota are among these facilities.

text: Power from renewable energy[edit]

text: Power stations can also generate electrical energy from renewable energy sources.

text: Hydroelectric power station[edit]

text: In a hydroelectric power station water flows through turbines using hydropower to generate hydroelectricity. Power is captured from the gravitational force of water falling through penstocks to water turbines connected to generators. The amount of power available is a combination of height and flow. A wide range of Dams may be built to raise the water level, and create a lake for storing water. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use.

text: Solar[edit]

text: Solar energy can be turned into electricity either directly in solar cells, or in a concentrating solar power plant by focusing the light to run a heat engine.

text: A solar photovoltaic power plant converts sunlight into direct current electricity using the photoelectric effect. Inverters change the direct current into alternating current for connection to the electrical grid. This type of plant does not use rotating machines for energy conversion.

text: Solar thermal power plants are another type of solar power plant. They use either parabolic troughs or heliostats to direct sunlight onto a pipe containing a heat transfer fluid, such as oil. The heated oil is then used to boil water into steam, which turns a turbine that drives an electrical generator. The central tower type of solar thermal power plant uses hundreds or thousands of mirrors, depending on size, to direct sunlight onto a receiver on top of a tower. Again, the heat is used to produce steam to turn turbines that drive electrical generators.

text: Wind[edit]

text: Wind turbines can be used to generate electricity in areas with strong, steady winds, sometimes offshore. Many different designs have been used in the past, but almost all modern turbines being produced today use a three-bladed, upwind design. Grid-connected wind turbines now being built are much larger than the units installed during the 1970s. They thus produce power more cheaply and reliably than earlier models. With larger turbines (on the order of one megawatt), the blades move more slowly than older, smaller, units, which makes them less visually distracting and safer for birds.

text: Marine[edit]

text: Marine energy or marine power (also sometimes referred to as ocean energy or ocean power) refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world’s oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion. This energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries.

text: The term marine energy encompasses both wave power — power from surface waves, and tidal power — obtained from the kinetic energy of large bodies of moving water. Offshore wind power is not a form of marine energy, as wind power is derived from the wind, even if the wind turbines are placed over water.

text: The oceans have a tremendous amount of energy and are close to many if not most concentrated populations. Ocean energy has the potential of providing a substantial amount of new renewable energy around the world.[14]

text: Osmosis[edit]

text: Salinity gradient energy is called pressure-retarded osmosis. In this method, seawater is pumped into a pressure chamber that is at a pressure lower than the difference between the pressures of saline water and fresh water. Freshwater is also pumped into the pressure chamber through a membrane, which increases both the volume and pressure of the chamber. As the pressure differences are compensated, a turbine is spun creating energy. This method is being specifically studied by the Norwegian utility Statkraft, which has calculated that up to 25 TWh/yr would be available from this process in Norway. Statkraft has built the world's first prototype osmotic power plant on the Oslo fiord which was opened on November 24, 2009.

text: Biomass[edit]

text: Biomass energy can be produced from combustion of waste green material to heat water into steam and drive a steam turbine. Bioenergy can also be processed through a range of temperatures and pressures in gasification, pyrolysis or torrefaction reactions. Depending on the desired end product, these reactions create more energy-dense products (syngas, wood pellets, biocoal) that can then be fed into an accompanying engine to produce electricity at a much lower emission rate when compared with open burning.

text: Storage power stations[edit]

text: It is possible to store energy and produce the electricity at a later time like in Pumped-storage hydroelectricity, Thermal energy storage, Flywheel energy storage, Battery storage power station and so on.

text: Pumped storage[edit]

text: The worlds largest form of storage for excess electricity, pumped-storage is a reversible hydroelectric plant. They are a net consumer of energy but provide storage for any source of electricity, effectively smoothing peaks and troughs in electricity supply and demand. Pumped storage plants typically use "spare" electricity during off peak periods to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. Because the pumping takes place "off peak", electricity is less valuable than at peak times. This less valuable "spare" electricity comes from uncontrolled wind power and base load power plants such as coal, nuclear and geothermal, which still produce power at night even though demand is very low. During daytime peak demand, when electricity prices are high, the storage is used for peaking power, where water in the upper reservoir is allowed to flow back to a lower reservoir through a turbine and generator. Unlike coal power stations, which can take more than 12 hours to start up from cold, a hydroelectric generator can be brought into service in a few minutes, ideal to meet a peak load demand. Two substantial pumped storage schemes are in South Africa, Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme and another in the Drakensberg, Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme.

text: Typical power output[edit]

text: This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2016)

text: The power generated by a power station is measured in multiples of the watt, typically megawatts (106 watts) or gigawatts (109 watts). Power stations vary greatly in capacity depending on the type of power plant and on historical, geographical and economic factors. The following examples offer a sense of the scale.

text: Many of the largest operational onshore wind farms are located in the USA. As of 2011, the Roscoe Wind Farm is the second largest onshore wind farm in the world, producing 781.5 MW of power, followed by the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center (735.5 MW). As of July 2013, the London Array in United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 630 MW, followed by Thanet Offshore Wind Project in United Kingdom at 300 MW.

text: As of 2015[update], the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are led by Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in China, rated at 850 megawatts.

text: Solar thermal power stations in the U.S. have the following output:

text: Large coal-fired, nuclear, and hydroelectric power stations can generate hundreds of megawatts to multiple gigawatts. Some examples:

text: Gas turbine power plants can generate tens to hundreds of megawatts. Some examples:

text: The rated capacity of a power station is nearly the maximum electrical power that that power station can produce. Some power plants are run at almost exactly their rated capacity all the time, as a non-load-following base load power plant, except at times of scheduled or unscheduled maintenance.

text: However, many power plants usually produce much less power than their rated capacity.

text: In some cases a power plant produces much less power than its rated capacity because it uses an intermittent energy source. Operators try to pull maximum available power from such power plants, because their marginal cost is practically zero, but the available power varies widely—in particular, it may be zero during heavy storms at night.

text: In some cases operators deliberately produce less power for economic reasons. The cost of fuel to run a load following power plant may be relatively high, and the cost of fuel to run a peaking power plant is even higher—they have relatively high marginal costs. Operators keep power plants turned off ("operational reserve") or running at minimum fuel consumption[citation needed] ("spinning reserve") most of the time. Operators feed more fuel into load following power plants only when the demand rises above what lower-cost plants (i.e., intermittent and base load plants) can produce, and then feed more fuel into peaking power plants only when the demand rises faster than the load following power plants can follow.

text: Operations[edit]

text: The term Power station is generally limited to those able to be despatched by a system operator (i.e. the system operator can, by one means or another, alter the planned output of the generating facility).[16][17][18]

text: The power station operator has several duties in the electricity-generating facility. Operators are responsible for the safety of the work crews that frequently do repairs on the mechanical and electrical equipment. They maintain the equipment with periodic inspections and log temperatures, pressures and other important information at regular intervals. Operators are responsible for starting and stopping the generators depending on need. They are able to synchronize and adjust the voltage output of the added generation with the running electrical system, without upsetting the system. They must know the electrical and mechanical systems in order to troubleshoot solve/fix problems in the facility and add to the reliability of the facility. Operators must be able to respond to an emergency and know the procedures in place to deal with it.