Adweek on Geico Ads Interrupting Other Geico Ads

Geico Ads Interrupt Other Geico Ads in the Brand’s Latest Fun Preroll Gag
Leaning in to the annoyance of the medium
By Tim Nudd

The Martin Agency has done plenty of experiments with Geico preroll ads—front-loading them with the marketing message so they’re unskippable; fast-forwarding through them to save you time; and crushing them down to a more manageable size.

In the fourth year of their preroll shenanigans, they’re trying something a little different. They’re leaning in to the interruptive nature of the medium—by interrupting the ads with other ads.

It’s called “Interrupt-a-palooza.” There are six ads total. Here are three of them.

The earlier “Unskippable,” “Fast Forward” and “Crushed” campaigns tried to give the viewer a better preroll experience. “Interrupt-a-palooza” does, too—but in a way that amplifies the normally most annoying aspect of the form. You still have to sit through the 15 seconds, but at least you get a bit of subversive, meta comedy along the way.

“In the previous three rounds of pre-roll work, we played with the concept of time. First by skipping to the end, then fast-forwarding through the middle, and last year, condensing our ads,” says creative director Neel Williams. “This year, we took a different approach, but still kept things very self-aware. Rather than apologize for the interruption, we thought it would be fun to lean into it.”

“Getting interrupted before watching an online video is not exactly a Ferris wheel ride,” adds associate creative director Mauricio Mazzariol. “So, these new Interrupt-a-palooza ads are supposed to bring some humor to the issue by embracing the disruptive nature of pre-roll and taking it to a whole new level.”

The work was directed by Terri Timely of Park Pictures, who also did the original “Unskippable” campaign.

Link to full article here.