The GEICO Gecko is All About Saving Money on Insurance. On Taxes & Government Spending, Apparently Not So Much.

Over at Big Government, Freedom Works' Matt Kibbe has posted a couple of calls involving the voiceover actor who does the bumper announcements for commercials featuring the GEICO gecko*, Lance Baxter, a.k.a. DC Douglass. Baxter called and left a message for the Freedom Works crew, saying he was working on a report about the group and asking how many of them and their followers were "retarded." And how the group would spin it when one of its followers killed somebody. Freedom Works called back to verify the number and identity of the caller. Something short of hilarity ensues but it's well worth listening to.

Go to Big Government to listen to the calls.

I haven't felt this bad since finding out that Clara "Where's the beef?" Peller was a charter member of PETA (not). Or that Sam Waterston shills for both TD Ameritrade and The Nation.

But it's tax day, ain't it, so watch this video and think about how competition for all sorts of insurance (except for health!) have driven down prices (when allowed!) and upped service.

* An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Baxter/Douglas voiced the gecko himself. More.

Comments

[skeptic]

where is the link?

[ed]

http://biggovernment.com/mkibb…..asher-too/

[Space Robot]

Link? LINK????
LINK??????????????
Oh for the love of golf where’s the LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK?

[Kristen]

Linky-poo: http://biggovernment.com/mkibb…..asher-too/

[R C Dean]

Would somebody please post a link?

[P Brooks]

how the group would spin it when one of its followers killed somebody.

Umm, what?

[Steff]

Someone more clever than me had better come up with a parody.

All takers! C’mon, now, let’s hear what the new Geico slogans will be. XD

[ed]

GEICO. 15 seconds and you could screw yourself out of a sweet voice-over gig.

[Sudden]

I expect many people to switch policies now.

Geiko:

15 seconds could cost your company 15% of marketshare.

[Steff]

Ed’s is amusing, but this is even better!

C’mon, any more? This is perfect for parody. I might even photoshop the best.

[ed]

I seriously doubt anyone would switch policies over something a freelance voice-over artist did on his own time. But in these intolerant, politically correct times, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy lost his contract over it. I switched to GEICO from Allstate just yesterday, and I didn’t save 15%…I saved 45%.

[Sudden]

Check the comments over at BigGovernment. Looks like they’ll lose a few customers over this.

Anyhow, for more parodies:

Getting canned for being a douchebag: so easy, a statist can do it.

[x,y]

Word, ed. I made the switch from Nationwide earlier this week. Saved almost a stack/yr with better coverage and lower deductibles. I don’t care how much of a fucksock this guy is, that’s real money in my pocket.

[Old Bull Lee]

ed – You might want to try out Progressive, because I saved about that much leaving GEICO for them.

[ed]

But I left Progressive for Allstate. For better rates! I seriously doubt I’m gonna do much better than $239/6 months.

[Old Bull Lee]

My bad, then. I guess they just stack up in different ways.

[ed]

I made the mistake of reporting a minor mishap to Progressive. Didn’t make a claim, just mentioned that someone sideswiped my parked car, for legal purposes. They marked it as a claim anyway and raised my rates. And that “claim” stayed on my insurance record for years. Progressive is the Devil.

[JD]

Dammit, ed, don’t you know that one of the primary rules for living a peaceful life is “Never come to the attention of the authorities”?

[Lord Barker]

I got a quote from Progressive and Geico recently, and the Progressive quote was 1/3 of Geico’s best offer with more coverage and lower deductibles, so Progressive worked for me!

[Slut Bunwalla]

Yeah, I switched from Allstate to Geico about eight or ten months ago and saved something in the neighborhood of 50%.

[?]

Umm, what?

He’s volunteering for an experiment.

The gecko voice and the “voice at the end of the commercials” aren’t the same voice, are they?

But experiment on whoever. For science.

[Voros McCracken]

Yeah I don’t think this is the Gecko voice. The most recent Gecko (the last four years or so) is clearly an actual English person, while the previous attempts might not have been.

Looking it up, the curtrent Gecko voice is Jake Wood. So this guy isn’t the Gecko, but the voiceover guy.

[BlogMeister]

They got that whole thing wrog sice the guy did a few commercials two years ago for GEICO, but doesn’t work for them anymore. Pretty sloppy reporting in the OP. And hilarity? Kinda just stupid.

With all that is happening in government and the socialism being rammed down our throats, taking time to harrass an out of work actor seems like a real waste of TP resources.

[max]

It is perfectly understandable that an employee of the Government Employees Insurance COmpany, a wholly owned subsidiary of Warren “Taxes should be higher because I’m rich enough to buy loopholes to not pay them and I can get more from the government if taxes are higher” Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway might have views a little off from those of the rest of the country.

[Zeb]

I hate to break this to you, but a lot of the rest of the country also agrees with Buffet. Who has stated that he thinks that his taxes should be higher too. I’m no fan of Buffet, but I am a fan of not making ridiculous statements.

[max]

Yes, lots of people believe that other people besides themselves should pay more taxes. Most of them do not have the ability to restructure their finances to ensure that they will not be paying those taxes they wish to make other people pay. Warren “I don’t have tax shelter” Buffet, who has used a variety of foundations to shelter his wealth from taxes, like many people is a firm believer that other people should pay more taxes, but that doesn’t make his (or their) position any less ridiculous.

[max]

Oh, as a note, DC Douglas does not do the voice of the Gecko, he does the voice-overs for the celebrities interpreting real people commercials by GEICo. And he does still do work for GEICo.

[Caveman]

the voice-overs for the celebrities interpreting real people commercials by GEICo

What does that even mean?

[max]

GEICo has a few different sets of commericals. One set is the gecko set, one set (not on television now) has minor league celebrities “interperting” “real Geico customers”, having the celebrity and “real Geico customer” side by side and the customer tells a story then the celebrity “interprets” it. Here, look at this one to get an idea of how it is done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42NcaL6IWi8

actually pretty funny idea. Anyway DC Douglas is the voice at the end.

[Art Vandelay]

Flo was on one of the Cavemen episodes. Worlds colliding.

[CaptainSmartass]

Or that Sam Waterston shills for both TD Ameritrade and The Nation.

Sam Waterston? The guy from the Old Glory commercials?

[Kolohe]

Came hear to say this.

[TheAngryMob]

Fellow Party Members!!! This is tax day!!! Get off your ass and get down to your local event! We need to show our numbers!!! And if you can legally carry, bring your guns! Let the government know that WE THE PEOPLE still matter!!!

[James Ard]

I’m not trying to offend anyone, but that’s the kind of behavior one would expect from a caveman.

[Caveman]

Heh heh…okay, you know WHAT: SCREW YOU, DUDE. Screw. You.

[Forrest]

Some of the Teabaggers tried to recruit the GEICO Cave Men in response to this, but then they realized it would be implicitly endorsing the diabolic theory of evolution.

[5pens]

47% of all Americans don’t pay feudal tax.

[James Anderson Merritt]

In my opinion, the original Gecko (Kelsey Grammer) was the lizard king.

[John David Galt]

It’s well known on the driving newsgroups that as soon as you sign up with GEICO, the company betrays you by donating a radar gun to your local police. Maybe some people are capable of believing that this helps safety (or is a good thing even if it does), but I don’t buy either idea. Screw paternalism and those who support it, whether inside or outside government.