So easy, even a caveman could do it
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2567638042235761554&q=geico+cav...
During a rare occasion, while I was watching TV, and an even more rare occasion where I pay attention to the commercials, I saw one of these commercials. I really enjoyed it. Obviously comedy is one of the best ways to get someone to remember something, as most of the Superbowl commercials demonstrate. I like these commercials particularly because it does not require any previous knowledge of the commercials or ideas. Although there is some kind of a progression in the line of commercials, each commercial can stand alone as a single entity and still "get the job done." Geico wants people to remember the simplicity and ease of the company. The catch phrase is the idea that they want people to remember, and bringing in a caveman to complain about the phrase is the humorous portion of the commercial. This humor gets the audience to remember what Geico wants them to remember.
Laughter increases memory retention and the humor comes from the exact thing that Geico wants the audience to take away from the commercial. This is a commercial that can be told to other people, so the information can spread this way as well. I feel that this commercial does a good job in accomplishing its goal.
i love these commercials, especially the one in the airport. I agree with you when you say that funny commercials stick in someones memory longer, but so does the shock affect. I think its interesting you don't really see more shocking commercials than you do funny ones. If i had to make a commercial it would be something really extreme so people never forget it.
Submitted by er0l12 on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 22:03.I agree with you that the shock affect and funny commercials stick in someones memory longer. But I think shock affect is less effective because simply people do not like to watch shock affect commercial. People just want to avoid something that is unpleasant.
Submitted by aalbert on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 22:10.I agree. By connecting a common expression with an actual caveman, they humorously emphasized the ease and benefits of switching to their company.
Submitted by iamaustin on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 22:29.I agree that the best way to promote something is through comedy. Unless you are interested in the product and know someone else that is, you are not likely to tell your friends about an advertisement unless it is humorous. So for commercials especially, I think it is most effective to use comedy to grab the audience's attention.
Submitted by physicschic on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 22:36.I really wouldn’t say that I’m a fan of theses commercials cause in my opinion I think they are a little kiddish. I wouldn’t say that I don’t like them either. They are kind of funny to me, I’m sure they are really funny to others (it’s a bit harder to make me laugh). But what I found odd is from something that I learned in my COM 318 class. Even though comedy is a great means to persuade, there are certain situations where it is not impossible. One being medical fields and another is insurance companies.
When the medical field and insurance companies are trying to persuade themselves they should come across as serious and promising. Do you want to go to a doctor who acts like his job is just a big joke? Or do you want to buy insurance from some one who you may not think will give you good coverage because they seem immature. I guess they got away with it because they kept airing it on TV. So after awhile we just got numb to it and didn’t think about it being comedy.
Submitted by aculp on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 23:27.That's a really good point. Why would you want to buy insurance from an immature company? Its one thing to be funny selling chips (those new Cheetos commercials by the way, those are great...yet creepy). But, why do these commercials work? I don't get it. I love the commercials though.
Submitted by zmcnulty on Fri, 02/29/2008 - 01:08.It's a very fine line I think, but I'm sure that most of you have seen the very serious commercials about attorneys sitting on their desk with a library of books in the background. They'll speak about all of their specializations in a monotone voice. To be honest I cannot remember any of their names because the commercials aren't memorable. So it's kind of a trade-off I suppose. That's a good point that I didn't think about.
Submitted by lcsnare on Fri, 02/29/2008 - 13:12.I agree that laughter can help make an ad memorable, but is there any real evidence that laughter increases memory retention. I may remember an ad was funny, but does that mean that I will remember what the ad was really about? But maybe that doesn't really matter because in this age of the internet, all we need is a company name that we can google. So I guess as long as the company name is well represented, humor can be a very good vehicle for memory of advertisements. Geico caveman ads are definetely funny enough that I do remember them so they are definetely effective.
Submitted by matt33172 on Fri, 02/29/2008 - 09:18.There have been studies (I can't find articles at the moment due to lack of time) showing that laughter can increase memory retention. I do agree that with the internet all that is needed is a company name for a promotional material to do its job.
Submitted by lcsnare on Fri, 02/29/2008 - 13:08.