Geico Cavemen in TV Advertising

Geico Insurance continues to roll out the Cavemen television commercials, with the first three spots in 2004 being supplemented by “Airport”, “Topic” and “Geico Caveman Trailer”. As usual, each ad finishes with the tagline, “Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.”

Caveman in first Geico TV ad

2004 Caveman Trilogy

A Geico Infomercial presenter tells his television audience, “It’s so easy to use Geico.com a caveman could do it”. The guy holding the sound boom (John Lehr) just happens to be a caveman. “What? Not cool!”, he yells as he throws down the boom and points. “I did not know you were there! We can change it…”, protests the announcer. Click on the image below to play Geico First Offence in YouTube

In a sophisticated apartment two cavemen respond when they see the ‘caveman claim’ aired on their television. One of them (Ben Wilson) stands and yells, “What’s that supposed to mean? Did you hear that? That is really condescending…”

In a restaurant a Geico representative meets with the two cavemen (Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ben Weber). “Seriously we apologize. We had no idea you guys were still around”, says the spokesman. “Yeah next time maybe do a little research”, says one of the complainants. When asked for their order, one asks for the roast duck with the mango salsa. The other says, “I don’t have much of an appetite. Thankyou”. Click on the image below to play Geico Apology at YouTube

Cavemen in Geico Restaurant ad

Geico Topic

One of the cavemen is on television being interviewed by a cable news anchorman (James McCauley). “”How can it be offensive if it’s true?”, asks the presenter. “First of all, I’m not a hundred percent in love with your tone right now”, replies the caveman.

Caveman appears on television

“Tone aside, historically, you guys have struggled to adapt”, retorts the commentator. “Right,” the caveman replies, “walking upright, discovering fire, inventing the wheel, laying the foundation for all mankind. You’re right. Good point. Sorry we couldn’t get that to you sooner.” Connie (Judith Fisher) comes onto the screen to suggest that someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock. Click on the image below to play the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRRlEyplGQ8

Geico Caveman Therapy Session

The caveman (John Lehr) is asked by the therapist why the Geico ‘so easy a caveman can do it’ phrase bothers him. As he tries to reason with his therapist (Talia Shire) the phone rings – it’s his mother on the line. A second session as the caveman struggling to make sense of naming a doll. Click on the image below to play the first and second therapy videos.


Geico Caveman Airport

To the tunes of Royksopp’s track, “Remind Me”, a caveman drifts along an airline corridor. When he passes a Geico poster he stops, backtracks and confirms his suspicion. The same old line, “So Easy A Caveman Can Do It” has found its way into print. In a second 10 second follow-up the caveman phones Geico to complain. Click on the image below to play the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYottyI027o

Caveman stops to look at poster in airport

Geico Caveman Trailer

Footage from previous and upcoming Geico caveman commercials is edited together to make the trailer for a fictitious movie, to the sounds of Eliot Lipp’s electronica track, “Flashlight”. Random pieces of dialogue and stock footage of South Beach are thrown into give the music video the trailer feel. “I need a vacation. I need a cruise”. “Why did he sleep with my girlfriend? Charlie was my best friend!” “What do want me to say? I’m insulted!” “I am not you!” “Hey guys! Karen wants to take us for a ride in her SUV.” “What a great day!” Click on the image below to play the video.

Caveman stops to look at poster in airport

The balcony scenes are from a soon-to-be-released Geico spot filmed at the Hyatt on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. The trailer was was released on Youtube by Hefty Records promoting the Steele Street Scraps EP.

Cast of Cavemen TV  show

Geico Cavemen in ABC Series

ABC in May 2007 launched Cavemen on Tuesday nights, the sitcom based on the Geico ads. Joel (Bill English), his younger brother Andy (Sam Huntingdon), and his best friend Nick (Nick Kroll), are three cavemen living in modern-day Atlanta. These cavemen continually find themselves at odds with contemporary society as they struggle to overcome their physical appearance and the accompanying stereotypes. Dash Mihok played the younger brother Jamie in the first pilot.

Joel is content with his life while pursuing the American dream, and has recently become engaged to Kate (Kaitlin Doubleday), a lovely Southern Caucasian girl. However, he must constantly vie for the respect of her conservative parents. Joel’s relationship with Kate and his personal contentment are constantly being put to the test by Nick and Jamie’s emotional demands. Other chararacters in the show are Trip (John Heard) and Thorne (Stephanie Lemelin). Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, one of the original three actors in the commercials, plays the character of Maurice in four episodes in the first series.

The show is directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon via Touchstone Television.

Geico Cavemen Advertising Credits

The Geico Cavemen campaign has been developed at The Martin Agency, by creative director Steve Bassett and copywriter/art director Joe Lawson, agency producer Brad Powell and assistant producer Valerie Battenfeld.

Filming was directed by Speck/Gordon (Will Speck and Josh Gordon), earlier with Omaha Pictures, now with Furlined, Los Angeles. Director of photography was Anthony Wolberg.

Post Production was done at R!OT. Editor was Haines Hall at Spot Welders, Los Angeles.

Audio engineer/mixer for Topic and Therapy was John Bolen at Play, Santa Monica. Audio engineer/mixer for Airport was Jeff McManus at Rainmaker Studios, Richmond VA.

Other Cavemen Sites

See my review of the Cavemen Crib interactive site. See the Geico-sponsored “Up With Cavemen” web site in which cavemen are described as intelligent, thoughtful, powerful, cognitive, ambitious and social. See the unofficial Cavemen Fansite at www.cavemenonline.com. And, of course, the Geico Cavemen Wikipedia site.

Geico Gecko Campaign Overview
Geico Gecko’s New Voice: Jake Wood
Geico Cavemen’s Crib
Geico Celebrities
Geico and Mrs Butterworth

39 Replies to “Geico Cavemen in TV Advertising”

  1. Please advise the name (and contact info if possible) of the woman actor who plays “Connie” in GEICO’S “Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock” commercial.
    Thank you.

  2. What are the names of the actors that portray the cavemen? Specifically the ‘I’m not 100% in love with your tone right now.” Are they the same actors in all the Geico Caveman commercials?

    Thank you.

  3. I love your caveman concept … any way I can get a caveman poster for my engineering office? These engineers that I work with are all neaderthals! They claim that engineering is for men!

  4. I absolutely love all of the Geico Caveman commercials…
    they are all so hilarious and i am “in love” with the guy who plays the caveman… he is so awesome! I too would like to know just WHO he is. If i didn’t already have Geico Insurance I would get it just because i love the caveman commercials! Keep the caveman,,,,, FOREVER!!!
    Where can i get a poster?????

  5. Who is that caveman! we all love him at the office. Sure would like to know who he is,and what he really looks like. Keep up the good work!!

  6. You need a Caveman girl/female. I can just imagine him lovingly pulling her by her bushy hair to get her attention. My opinion is that they should retain some “genetic” Caveman tendencies, though…like a primitive taste in music…something with a monotonous deep beat…and burping and maybe grunting now and then…when they are displeased…and then saying, “Excuse me, but I’m a caveman, aren’t I?” but I just love the sophisticated Caveman concept, and I thought that the interactive cavemanscrib.com was the neatest thing..how was that done? I found myself clicking on everything…how clever. I loved how you could listen to the music by clicking on the radio, and how there was a “blackout” when the thing in the oven exploded. By the way, what does the guy really look like? I work with someone who looks a bit like him. By the way II, my car insurance IS Geico. He he.

  7. I could be wrong, but I am not the only person to suspect that the main caveman in the Geico commercials just might be comedian David Herman, who is best known for his performance as Innotech software engineer “Michael Bolton” in the “Office Space” movie.

  8. These are my fantasy guys….I want to rent a room at the Madonna Inn in California…rent the Caveman Room…have them both….guess you could say..”I am so easy only a caveman could do me!”

  9. I really like the caveman commerials – but most especially the ‘Caveman’ who appears in most of the ads — I think he is HOT.

    It reminds me of a statement by Dad told me when I was a child:

    “It is not what you look like but what comes from within the heart.”

    I carry around two perons on my skeletal frame — over time it has had to do with persons causing pain, anguish, and as a defense mechanism to keep people away or at a distance. My former father-in-law made the comment to me that he should have let his son know abouth those people back there when we were going to see my family. This was after my ex and I had been married for a year and he was making his ‘curtain call’ — of course, it was a very painful one — not to mention how my ex treated my family.

    Being as I am a coal-miner’s daughter from WV who has been teased and comments made to me as if I was not a ‘human’ etc. A recent comment was made to me by a neighbor that if I want to get a boyfriend, he had better be blind. Talk about a cutting remark.

    As a woman approaching 55 with health-issues, weight issues, etc., I can feel the painful emotions the commercials and tones of voice, etc.

  10. I love these commercials. They are freaken hilarious. These dudes need names.
    How about Ugg, Ogg, and Frank

  11. I have watched the balcony scene over and over and I am convinced that the one caveman that signed up with Geico is Bill Paxton. Listen to his voice and his inflexions and it really sounds like him. Can anyone confirm this?

  12. There really should be a caveman girl. I think that’s what all the viewers would definitely go crazy over. I would do it in a heart beat.

  13. Seriously, in the caveman ad (airport poster) the caveman states “four feet by five feet”. Please, get a ruller and you will find that is way off. Looks like two feet by four feet. Also, why do you have the caveman in the poster shaven, including his arms?
    I sent an e-mail to The Martin Agency several months ago–addressed to their human resourses department, but never heard from them and I see we are still listening to “four feet by five feet”. I would like to know why you would make the cavement for the most part appear intellegent and then you have one who can’t eyeball a poster measurement. Yes, I have Geico Auto Ins.

  14. this one’s i think for mr lehr. i really liked your interpretation of “or i wouldn’t be having an existential…meltdown!…(right now).
    ok, this might sound silly but i really liked it. after all, how else could this be parsed without edging away from the image? but who would have thought of it!? the “meltdown” explosive, ok, but the “right now” diffident? interesting. i laugh because i am not at all tongue in cheek, i really like thinking this way! anyhow, great things are in store for you, caveman(toothpicks, soap, underwear).

  15. I just read on Yahoo about who the actors will be in the new “caveman” series. They are not the same actors that are in the commercials. What are the thinking? They have got to have the same actors or the series will not work because it sounds like we all love those particular actors in the commercials.

  16. Again with the ‘four feet by five feet’ thing.

    Hardly a carpenter, even I can see at a glance
    the sizes are not correct.

    Just something I’ve noticed as well.

  17. What’s this I hear about the original three actors getting the axe for the series? Hey GEICO, you guys messed up the Gecko when you made him a Brit, should have kept him the way he was.
    Now you’ve found a winning threesome for the show.
    Don’t make the same mistake again.
    Stick with the guys who made it happen.

  18. Poe Says:

    July 20th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
    These bozos are the worst advertising i have ever seen.

    to Joe: you are a dumb a#^..Worst advertising? What’s best advertising in your book? the type of advertisement that doesn’t work? You have no sense of creativity my frinds nad they’s what advertising is all about ..creativity.., which is obviusly effective for Geico

  19. July 20th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
    These bozos are the worst advertising i have ever seen.

    to Joe: you are a dumb a#^..Worst advertising? What’s best advertising in your book? the type of advertisement that doesn’t work? right? You have no sense of creativity my friend and that’s what advertising is all about ..creativity.., which is obviously effective for Geico

  20. Actually the guy who plays the main caveman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) has signed on to be the star of the upcoming TV series..Let’s pray they infuse the same wit of the commercial campaign because I would love to see this show be successful…

  21. Love the cavemen ads!!! Keep them coming! Please, please use the same actors in the series, all of them. they are great! Can’t wait for it to begin.

  22. Okay. Won’t tell me who he is, huh? Bet I’ll find him. Haven’t had a crush like this since….well, never mind.
    Oh, by the way, two are in makeup and one is real. Body language, you see.

  23. The caveman TV show will be a failure because they don’t have the same actors that do the commercials.
    The show’s producers don’t have a clue.

  24. It’s funny and so retro that it fitsa it pretty dam well. i mean so easy a cave man could do it is classic – by far ten times better than the new ones and the gecko.
    Anybody agree? Bye bye MAho

  25. I want to see the real cave men from the Geyko commercial on the show. It just isn’t the same. They need to hire the same guys as the commercial.

  26. Actually, Jeff Daniel Phillips (who is the “main” caveman in many of the commercials, and the host of the Caveman’s Crib) has filmed 4 episodes of Season One (including the pilot). I agree, he needs a larger role. The reason all of them were not in it originally was simply because they were not available due to prior commitments.

  27. What a disapointment to not have the original cavemen as the cast for the TV show! How could the producers be so lame as to change the winning format?! The present cast just doesnt have the same caveman charisma as the Geico commercials did. Check out cavemanscrib.com for the real stuff featuring the original guy, Jeff Daniel Phillips. He’s funnier just saying a few words than the present cast is in a whole half hour episode! Dont think the show will last without him!

  28. Does anyone remember an ad from a long time ago, i think it was for mercury energy,–> the guy is cooking stir fry for the girl, (who i think was wearing a red dress), he flicks the wok, and a bean sprout flies off, n he catches it with his mouth. Thats all i can remember. Does anyone know the name of the song used in that ad?????
    I have been tryin to find that out for such a long time, and no luck =/
    Thank you

  29. AM I THE ONLY ONE THATS REALLY SICK OF SEEING THESE DAMN COMMERCIALS?…….GRANTED THE “FIRST” ONE WAS FUNNY….BUT LETS GET A GRIP. ITS TIME TO PUT THE CAVEMEN TO REST!

  30. It’s now July-of-2009. Love the Car driving lizard (oops) AND the cavemen. Can’t wait to see more of each! Why should we chose? To bad the movie did not make it. Maybe the fault was in NOT using CAVEMEN and the little GECKO. The Geico could be a chip munching, soda guzzeling,(HICK-UP) book shelf pacing MENTER, for the cavemen! LOVE the idea, PLEASE TRY AGAIN! Continue using both concepts. Thanks. Jan, Age 72, in Cal.

  31. I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A NEW GEICO COMMERICIAL. YOU REALLY NEED TO CONTACT ME. THIS IS GREAT IDEA YOU NEED SOME NEW MATERIAL AND COMMERICIALS

  32. The “cavemen” ie, euro white people – newly discoverd to have significant neaderthal DNA – are portrayed as childish, idiotic and no match for billy jean king and chess playing black athletes. I see what you did there. Fuck GEICO.

Leave a Reply