The Gecko is back to the small screen, in a new ad for GEICO. This time, he doesn’t want tell his co-worker his name when he forgets it during a meeting.
The spot opens with the small lizard in a conference room, praising a colleague named Tim for his presentation and asking him to e-mail him the part about GEICO making it easy to switch and save hundreds. Tim says he will send it, but he realizes he doesn’t know the Gecko’s name. The latter realizes that, too, but Tim doesn’t admit it, saying that he just gets him mixed up with the other guy. He then asks about the other guy’s name and asks the Gecko what’s his name, too.
“Switch to GEICO. You could save 15% or more on car insurance,” the voiceover says at the end of the commercial, which also sees Tim insisting for the Gecko to tell his name because he wants this to be over.
Created by The Martin Agency and modified in 2005 to a CGI character by Animation Director David Hulin, GEICO’s reptilian mascot first appeared in 2000, during the Screen Actors Guild strike, that prevented the use of live actors, and became GEICO’s longest-running mascot, appearing in more than 150 commercials. Over the years, he has been voiced by multiple actors, including Kelsey Grammer, Dave Kelly, and Jake Wood.