How Geico Became the One Advertiser It’s OK to Love

By David Griner

What makes a Geico ad a Geico ad?

The insurance brand has run an endless parade of humorous advertising over its 25-year relationship with The Martin Agency, and, creatively, the campaigns have been all over the map. Even more strangely, these disparate campaigns have often run in market at the same time, breaking a core commandment of marketing: Thou shalt not confuse thy customer.

But the counterintuitive thread that binds them all has also been the brand’s secret to not overstaying its welcome with the ad-watching public. The secret: Be funny, but not too funny.

“It’s a smart humor—a chuckle, not a knee slapper,” Joe Pusateri, vp of marketing for Geico, tells Adweek. “We think knee-slappers wear out and get kind of irritating.”

With this guiding principle, Geico has managed to become the advertising equivalent of the friend everyone likes having around. Funny, but not obnoxiously so. The brand’s dry wit comes through in even the most over-the-top campaigns, with its jokes never seeming low-brow nor New-Yorker-cartoon elitist.

To mark the 25 years since it began its creative relationship with the Richmond, Virginia, based Martin Agency, Geico has been re-airing a collection of some of its greatest advertising hits recently, while also encouraging fans to vote for their favorites. The voting ended this week, and one lucky participant will get to appear in a future Geico ad.

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