This week National Public Radio’s “Planet Money” took a shine to a recent Ad Age-Harris Poll about the most popular insurance mascots—and that in turn piqued our interest in the findings.
The story about the poll in Ad Age ranked the top nine mascots, which we’ll reveal here:
- The GEICO Gecko
- Jake from State Farm
- Mayhem from Allstate
- Professor Burke from Farmers Insurance
- Flo from Progressive
- The Aflac Duck
- Dr. Rick from Progressive
- LiMu Emu… and Doug from Liberty Mutual
- Jamie from Progressive
Yes, the critter that started it all—Geico’s gecko—still reigns supreme with viewers, according to the Ad Age-Harris Poll, which found that 40% of the respondents “strongly like” the lizard, while an additional 35% “somewhat like him.” That amounts to a 75% favorability rating—which the article says shows that viewers are not yet tired of the 23-year-old character that is backed by Geico’s hefty ad budget. Coming in second is Jake from State Farm, who notched a 69% favorability rating.
The Planet Money story delves into the origins of the GEICO Gecko, preceded by coming up with the famous “15 minutes can save you 15% or more on car insurance” tagline; the trouble people had pronouncing GEICO before it was a household name; and finally how an ad agency guy draws a picture of a gecko on a cocktail napkin at a hotel bar with a speech bubble coming out of his mouth that says, I’m a gecko. Don’t call me GEICO. He slides the cocktail napkin over to Ted Ward, who was in charge of advertising at a then much-smaller GEICO. “Just as a joke, says, hey, Ted, we should do this,” the story relates.
The GEICO CEO’s wife loved the gecko, and more commercials were made featuring it. And of course Warren Buffet buys the company and jacks up the advertising budget from about $35 or $40 million a year to $280 million two years later. And the rest is history…
But the real purpose of THIS story is to kick off a conversation on Insurance Forums about the rankings—what you agree with and what the poll may have gotten wrong.
So who’s the best insurance mascot, and which one makes you turn the channel?
Mayhem should be #1 by far.
Missed a few:
Caveman – GEICO
Snoopy – Met Life
The General
The LiMu Emu and Doug was lame. Shouldn't have made the list at all. Maybe there were only 9 choices on the survey.
I hate that f*cking duck and where's Flo.
I agree….The Gecko has never made me laugh out loud that I recall. Mayhem has, especially with the line…10s of 10s of views!
Yeah, Mayhem for the win.
The Caveman's facial expressions cracked me up also.
Number 5 on the list.
Don't know how I missed that.
Just from my experience, Allstate is one of the worst companies to do bizz with, but has one of the best mascots.
What about the Santa Cruz Banana Slug? oh wait this is just for insurance companies.
Dean Winters is hilarious. That was the perfect casting. I've been impressed with him as an actor since Oz.
I always found it odd that both he and the Nazi rapist from Oz both ended up doing ads for insurance companies.
Caveman used to post here. What happened to him?
Funny, we buy insurance for the peace of mind and financial stability it provides… does anyone think it quite odd what or who insurance companies choose to become the face of their product? :err:
Lizards, fowl, nitwits, idiots, and neanderthals!?!
Am I missing something?
He was also great on SVU and 30 Rock.
Metlife had Snoopy for years.
You trust your not running off the road to the Michelin Man.
You trust your kids not getting salmonella from a bald, winking dude (Mr Clean).
People like to laugh?
Yeah, I get that. Spend a day with me and you'll see I that I love to a good wholesome gut laugh once a day if I can get it.
I was just asking the question in a philosophical way.
I guess I find it rather humerus. :goofy:
Sorta like the funny bone. :jiggy:
And yes, I would like to laugh, but I have a bone I want to pick with you.