Comments on: Geico Caveman Commercials Irk Me

By: John

John — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:00:42 +0000

Is it me, or are all the humans in these commercials middle/upper class Anglo-Americans? Or at least all the speaking roles? This is the smoking gun for me, which most clearly shows Geico’s attitude linking humanness with mainstream whiteness and simultaneously linking minorities to uplifted and educated brutes, who may be assimilated and converted to function in society but who will inevitably be viewed as different. These commercials seem to suggest that minorities’ differences in appearance are disfiguring a la caveman, though perhaps to a less accentuated degree. And these commercials (especially the motorcycle one) suggest that cavemen or minorities should embrace their difference and be unaffected by the general negative public perception regarding their kind, since there are those in the human or white race who aren’t affected by such stereotypes or prejudices. These commercials might have some positive function of inciting discussion on race relations or human prejudice in general if they weren’t so blatantly whitewashing the human race. Although this is prevalent all throughout advertising, it seems that commercials such of these where it is humans vs. non-humans where it is most important to prevent the mischaracterization of the human race.

By: Sam Walker

Sam Walker — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:02:08 +0000

I didn’t get the commercials because they made GEICO’s advertisement agency seem ignorant and incompotent, not the type with whom I would do business. The cavemen obviously weren’t simpletons, they constantly proof their critics wrong, only their critics are to ignorant and arrogant to realize it. It would be different if the frustrated caveman smashed up a computer terminal with a femur bone or maybe even ate the GEICO lizard and they proofed the ad’s insinuation correct but instead the cavemen put forth a reasonable and ariticulate argument against their stereotype albeit to people to ignorant to even listen to their argument.

By: David

David — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:45:47 +0000

I’m a white guy. I thought it was discriminatory when I first saw it. Not necessarily against black people, but just minorities in general. Would I call it racist against minorities? Not really. Does it poke fun at them. It could be interpreted that way. Does it make me think that minorities are stupid. NOT AT ALL.

Racism is a huge, complicated subject. And as a white guy, I have to apologize for the racism in our country. But one thing I’ve learned is that we are all have racist tendencies no matter who we are. And what’s special about the U.S. is that we, both white and black, have made huge strides to weeding out racism.

What saddens me is that there is still a large contingency of black people that have written off the American dream as just a white person’s dream, and don’t want to take advantage of something that most people in the world would give their right arm for. Maybe the scars of the past are too deep for this group of black people. I can’t change the past. All I can do is try to understand and promote America as anyone’s dream, not just for white people.

By: akacocolopez

akacocolopez — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:37:37 +0000

i have always felt this way about this commercial as it shuns the feelings of many ‘minorities’ in america

By: run tcm

run tcm — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:27:24 +0000

You all are idiots. The joke of this commercial is a covert jab at minorities in America, THATS WHAT THEY ARE MAKING FUN OF! So yes, the commercial is completely racist, its just too bad there are so many idiots out there that can’t read between the lines (funny enough I always thought this was such an obvious case). Anyway, the white people on this site that are defending this commercial just have huge egos and don’t want to admit to their social (white) privilege in our society. THis commercial is particularly dangerous because (apparently based on the idiots on this site) the message is so covert and subliminal. Too bad there aren’t any educated, intelligent people that post here.

By: DM

DM — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:33:58 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe this discussion has gone on for a year. Coming from a well educated black man, most of these folks are reading way too much into a silly commercial. I would have to admit, this is a very memorable (and funny) commercial. I would be suprised if the advertisers had any “hidden” agenda, other than selling more insurance policies. Given our economy, it would be illogical for an insurance company to use advertising money for anything other than selling more policies. So – I challenge all of the paranoid responders to stop worrying about what other people might be thinking, and start using their valuable time to leave a positive legacy with the world before their days are gone. Enough said.

By: JR

JR — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:22:31 +0000

The commercials are funny because cavemen are extinct and the commercials humanize them. Geico is poking fun at itself for slighting “people” who are actually a normal part of society and do things that modern day people do: go to nice restaurants, go on flights, go to therapists. If anything, the cavemen are being humanized and are reacting like most people would in that situation. By the way, in one of the commercials, the caveman’s mother is calling. So I guess there must be cavewomen too?

By: browheel

browheel — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:27:00 +0000

ABW,
I think in terms of the issues of racism, the GEiCO commericals offend all miniorites not just african americans. Racism is not a black and white issue, because there are more ethnic groups in this country than African Americans. As a native American (Navajo is my tribe), I found the commericals to ridicule the negative portrayals of Natives in the media. For you as a Black woman, you saw it as a direct insult to African Americans.

The Native americans make up only 1% of the population in the US, opposed to the 13% of African Americans. Many people don’t even realize we “still exist” (as they say in the geico commericals). We are often portrayed as tom-a-hawk branishing, feather wearing, piece pipe smoking drunkin savages that live in teepees. Just like African Americans we share a painful past in US history, however we are rarely seen in the media as anything modern, intelligent, and “civilized”.

So, I know that as a Black woman you identify with your ethnic group and racial discrimination, just as whites identify with their ethnic group and privilege. But if we are to be culturally aware we need to think of ALL people of “color” and not just black and white. The fight to end racism should not only be for African Americans but Asian, Arab, Indian, Native, Hawaiian, Hispanic Americans as well. So I challenge you to see the world not only in black but other colors as well.

By: i thought i was going crazy

i thought i was going crazy — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:27:37 +0000

thank you i felt the same way about the adds and all my friends looked at me like i was soo off. it hurt me so deep inside to watch them. what hurt most were the endless buppies that thought the ads were cool

By: the angry black woman

the angry black woman — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:19:42 +0000

well of course, why didn’t I see that before? BLACK people keep racism alive!! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.