Geico's Caveman: A Peep Into The Mind of The Marginalized and Maligned
If you are in the academic sector like I am, you will know this is an exam period on most campuses nationwide. So, after a busy week of academic 'stress', I feel like reflecting on life's lighter side today... I have always thought that some of Geico's commercials dealing with the caveman are so hilarious. I like those caveman ads for two reasons: for one , they are so funny they get me laughing all the way through the ad session; two, it is a very creative way by Geico.com to deal with some of the social issues that their ad raises - like common stereotypes.
Have you seen some of those Geico's commercials lately? "It's so easy a caveman can do it". You know the one I love most? 'Geico.com- so easy a therapist can do it'.
Mr. caveman comes to see a therapist ( most likely forced by his employer, Geico, to go see one for 'anger management'!), but the therapist doesn't understand why he is upset by being so maligned. Well, the caveman replies her by suggesting that the ad says, 'Geico.com, so easy a therapist can do it'. But surprisingly, the therapist who a moment ago said that 'it was just an ad', protests, saying it wouldn't make sense to her. Click here now to watch it. It is so funny and thought-provoking.
The other one I love is this: 'Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock'. Click here to watch it
I think this caveman is too smart for this kind of malignant. He reminds us that his men discovered fire, invented the wheel, and laid the foundation upon which we are building are modern society. That doesn't sound to me like a dumb fellow! But all we could answer to what he just said, was that 'he woke up on the wrong side of the rock'. How ironic.
This one makes me empathic, and also respectful of the caveman: 'Everywhere he goes, there is something to remind him'.
Even at the airport, there is still this poster, 'so easy a caveman can do it'. Who could understand the struggle he goes through seeing those posters everywhere, spreading a stereotype that he sharply disagrees with?
From far away, the so called caveman sounds too uncivilized, too crude and uneducated; that is, until we see him up close. Then we realise he is just like all of us - smart, intelligent, resourceful, and can hold his own any day with the so called modern fellow. Just because someone is different from us does not give us a right to treat them as dumb or inferior.
I hope you enjoy these ads as I have. But as you do, I hope you will join Geico.com in this creative approach to confronting some of the negative stereotypes in our society; stereotypes about blacks, whites, hispanics, fat people, Africa, etc etc. Remember, just because people in your own little world accept that it is alright to feel certain way about people who are different, that does not make it right, especially when you happen to see it from the perspective of those who bear daily the brunt of such cruel stereotypes.
Let's laugh, but let us think too. That is the twin challenge that Geico's caveman poses to us.
If you are in the academic sector like I am, you will know this is an exam period on most campuses nationwide. So, after a busy week of academic 'stress', I feel like reflecting on life's lighter side today... I have always thought that some of Geico's commercials dealing with the caveman are so hilarious. I like those caveman ads for two reasons: for one , they are so funny they get me laughing all the way through the ad session; two, it is a very creative way by Geico.com to deal with some of the social issues that their ad raises - like common stereotypes.
Have you seen some of those Geico's commercials lately? "It's so easy a caveman can do it". You know the one I love most? 'Geico.com- so easy a therapist can do it'.
Mr. caveman comes to see a therapist ( most likely forced by his employer, Geico, to go see one for 'anger management'!), but the therapist doesn't understand why he is upset by being so maligned. Well, the caveman replies her by suggesting that the ad says, 'Geico.com, so easy a therapist can do it'. But surprisingly, the therapist who a moment ago said that 'it was just an ad', protests, saying it wouldn't make sense to her. Click here now to watch it. It is so funny and thought-provoking.
The other one I love is this: 'Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the rock'. Click here to watch it
I think this caveman is too smart for this kind of malignant. He reminds us that his men discovered fire, invented the wheel, and laid the foundation upon which we are building are modern society. That doesn't sound to me like a dumb fellow! But all we could answer to what he just said, was that 'he woke up on the wrong side of the rock'. How ironic.
This one makes me empathic, and also respectful of the caveman: 'Everywhere he goes, there is something to remind him'.
Even at the airport, there is still this poster, 'so easy a caveman can do it'. Who could understand the struggle he goes through seeing those posters everywhere, spreading a stereotype that he sharply disagrees with?
From far away, the so called caveman sounds too uncivilized, too crude and uneducated; that is, until we see him up close. Then we realise he is just like all of us - smart, intelligent, resourceful, and can hold his own any day with the so called modern fellow. Just because someone is different from us does not give us a right to treat them as dumb or inferior.
I hope you enjoy these ads as I have. But as you do, I hope you will join Geico.com in this creative approach to confronting some of the negative stereotypes in our society; stereotypes about blacks, whites, hispanics, fat people, Africa, etc etc. Remember, just because people in your own little world accept that it is alright to feel certain way about people who are different, that does not make it right, especially when you happen to see it from the perspective of those who bear daily the brunt of such cruel stereotypes.
Let's laugh, but let us think too. That is the twin challenge that Geico's caveman poses to us.
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