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Saturday, January 21, 2012
save money and switch to Geico
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THE NEW OHIO STATE ROWING TEAM!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn this video the man talks about how he spent 8 months to teach the chubby guinea pig to yell row. He states that its strange why it took so long for the guinea pig to yell row because it's such a simple word. This relates to Geico because the message that they are trying to send to their viewers is that getting insurance through Geico is easy. Also another thing that viewers can interpret from this video is why spend so long trying to save money on car insurance when a it's as simple as taking 15 minutes to save 15% or more on car insurance. Geico also says that its the choice for an easier way to save and in the video the man built the contraption for the guinea pigs to row a small boat and the message could be that you don't need to go through all of that trouble to save some money, instead Geico is the best choice if you want to save some money.
ReplyDeleteThe commercial shows a man explaining experiences with his insurance company. He talks about how, in order to save money, he taught hamsters to row a boat and actually say, "row". The producer includes these hamsters to show how hard other companies are to deal with; whereas, working with Geico is much easier than training two hamsters to row. These could also represent an element of immaturity in other insurance companies. By switching to Geico, you will not have waste time with employees who do not take their jobs seriously. Think about it. The man says he does not understand why it took so long for the chubby hamster to say, "row", even though it is such an easy word. This could also represent an aspect of certain insurance companies. They could be making simple information seem overly complex to their clients; whereas, by working with Geico, they convey simple information in a simple manner to their clients.
ReplyDeleteAs Kevin and Jeff pointed out this commercial is definitely implying that the hassle of training hamsters to row a boat is comparable to the hassle of working with insurance companies that aren't Geico. It also points out how easy taking 15 minutes is compared to months of training hamsters. What is really interesting is the repetition of the word "row". This could be Geico making fun of themselves because of the repetitiveness of their ads, which all have the exact same ending. They pound the message of saving 15% or more into your head, just as the hamster is pounding the message of "row" into the heads of the other hamsters.
ReplyDeleteAs most have pointed out, this commercial points out that geico can supposedly save you money on car insurance. The ironic thing is that the man in complaining about bills but he has a very nice house. His office is furnished with nice wood furniture. Maybe the producers thought this was important and as symbol of how much money you can save. Perhaps an idea they want the consumer to think is "if i switch, i will save so much money that i can buy a super nice house like that guy". Also, i found thought of an interesting take on the hamsters. The commercial does not directly state it, but in some sense, WE are the hamsters sitting on the boat getting commands barked at us. We should no longer just go through the motions. We should switch to Geico and be under our own control.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has made good point about the use of the hamsters in this commercial, and I also agree with Eric's statement that the man has a nice house, and if you save money by switching to Geiko, you too can also have a nice house. With the hassle that the man went through to build the device in which the hamsters make his computer work by rowing, he could've saved time by just switching to Geiko. I also liked the comment that we are the hamsters getting commanded to "row" when we are with other insurance companies other than Geiko. It's a way of showing how easy and nice switching to Geiko and saving money with them can be. Also, with showing an older man in the video, it shows that even if you are older and aren't that advanced with technology and such, it's very easy to switch to Geiko and save money.
ReplyDeleteGeico, a car insurance company advertises themselves as a way to save money. They do this by comparing guinea pigs rowing a boat to the difficulty of being able to pay all your bills. Geico tries to appeal to the audience by seeming like a company that simply tries to help the American people, however their acts are not all altruistic as they may seem. Like all other companies, Geico is trying to generate more production for their company and therefore increase their own salaries.
ReplyDeleteGeico creates a strong binary between simple and difficult with the trained guinea pigs. There is also repetition of the word row. The trained guinea pigs are an example of a very difficult way to save money. Spending 6-8 months to train guinea pigs to row and spin a generator that powers a computer is very exaggerated. Obviously nobody would actually spend the time to do that and it is probably not even possible. However, the exaggeration is humorous and appeals to the viewers pathos. The "simple" way to save money is to switch to Geico. Geico never actually tells the viewer how or why they are cheaper than other isurance companies. The viewer is too busy thinking about and laughing at the guinea pigs to question Geico. This way, Geico can say switching to their company is cheaper without explaining how or why.
ReplyDeleteGeico of course uses humor to appeal to our society, here, in this chemmerical Geico uses an old man to describe how his electric bill is going up, so he uses Guinea pigs to help generate the electricity to surf the web--to help save money. Geico uses humor in that way to let viewers know switching to Geico will save you not only money, but time. No need to train those guinea pigs for 6 months. They want viewers to understand the repitions behind the words row, strange, and simple. It's strange to have guinea pigs generate your power, plus its so repitive. Why not save time, it's simple! Switching to Geico is a quick step and it's simple. Plus, by flashing their company name at the end with their little saying always helps viewers remember who they are. Another thing I also found interesting was how they used an older gentlemen to complain about his electric bill. I feel like people always imagine older people to complain about everything, and are always trying to find ways to save money.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to what Marissa said, old men often complain about everything such as paying bills, but they also complain about technology. It is too complicated for them. By having the actor be an older man, the audience see's that it must be easy because even old men can do it; therefore, anyone can do it!This appeal makes the product user- friendly which will attract more customers because it is easy and efficient to use.
ReplyDeleteIn the very late part of this ad, the man said: " such a good way,ooh". Even though it songs like he feel happy about the way he save the money, but according to his tone, it is more like a self-comfort.Because the hamster keep making noise. Through the old man and hamsters, the company wants to use metaphor to let audiences know that they are just like the old man who still can not find the best way to save money. Also, there are many number listed in the ad, like 8 month,2 month each; 15min, 25%.these data came be viewed as binaries, and they are aim to let audience believe using Geico s cheaper
ReplyDeleteThe commercial uses comedy as the man says "It took me 6 months to train each one, 8 months to train the chubby one." While this statement is humorous, it is also dramatizing the amount of time it took to do so. This creates a binary between the time it would take to get a quote on Geico, 15 minutes, and the ridiculous amount of time that the man wasted training hamsters, when he can save the same amount of money by using Geico.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has already made very good observations about the importance of the hampsters showing how little effort it would take on your part to save money. The binary being you could train a bunch of hampsters to run a electric mill and spend 8 months doing that or you could spend 15 minutes and give geico a call. Because Geico has been around for so long you could probably guess that this was already going to be a Geico commercial before they even said anything becasue Geico has a trademark with how they advertise to people. Use very unconventional humor, often times using cute little animals, like the little pig or these guinea pigs. Geico sort of uses this as repetition so before they even say anything you associate that Geico makes you laugh and is simple and cheap to get.
ReplyDeleteAll of Geico's ads usually incorporate some sort of humor into them. In this one, guinea pigs are taught how to row a boat/yell row in 6-8 months time. Geico's infamous "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance" goes along with this commercial. You could either spend 15 minutes giving Geico a call and get all of your piled up bills paid or spend months and months teaching animals to perform human tasks. Also, the fact that Geico uses an older man to convey this message reaches out to the older audience's watching showing them that it is easy to get all of your bills out of the way and gain extra money in the process; just switch to Geico.
ReplyDeleteAs most people have pointed out that the ad uses humor and sarcasm to attract audience. In order to save money, the man in the commercial uses "6 months" to train the guinea pigs to row and "8 months" to train the chubby one to say "row" to create electricity. However, it only takes like 15 minutes to quote bu using Geico. The commercial forces audience to compare the two ways. It is more convenient to use Geico. And also, it implies that Geico can save your time while save your money. "It's such a simple word" suggests that if you use Geico, the procedure would be simple.
ReplyDeleteSince most people have made great analysis of the binary in the commercial, I am going talk about some other details of it. When switching the training guinea pigs to save money to using Geico, the commerical maker use a way of closing the window of the former and typing the website address of the latter. Because in current days, computers and Internet are widely used and bring people convenience, using this way can make the commercial seems modern so that the viewers may feel the Geico is a up-to-date thing and it is also very convenient and easy for modern people to use. Another interesting thing I found is that at the end of the commercial, it says "15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance." The reason why the commerical repeats the number 15 twice in a single and short sentense instead of saying another time like 10 minutes may be that it can catch people's attention by repeating and convince people that it will not take a long time to save money by Geico.
ReplyDeleteWhat i find most interesting about this Geico commercial is the binary between how long it took the man to get the guinea pigs to accomplish the rowing versus how long it takes someone to switch to Geico. It took the man 6 months to get them to row and 8 months for the chubby one to yell row. Thats a a long time to keep up with a task in order to save some money. Another way he could save is switching to Geico and it would only take hime 15 minutes! He wouldn't have to worry about the hassle of training animals. It is way more "simple" to switch to Geico than to teach a guinea pig to yell "row."
ReplyDeleteSince most of the binaries have already been discussed, I'll talk about ethos, pathos, and logos. While ethos is not a huge part of this add, its quite full of the other two. Firstly, the use of pathos (appealing to emotion) is used through the humor and the guinea pigs. The humor was obviously intentionally added to draw viewers attention. There are several more practical methods of saving money. He could have said "I'm trying to save money so I'm not using as much electricity." But it would not have nearly the same effect as something like training the guinea pigs to power his electricity. Secondly, the use of the guinea pigs to supply his power appealed to the emotion side as well. The audience sees it as cute, and is therefore more drawn to the commercial. Had they used a different method of powering the electricity, such as covering his roof in an outrageous number of solar panels, the audience would see it as a bizzare commercial rather than comical. The use of logos is applied AFTER the pathos. Once Geico has appealed to the audience and has their attention, they fire off a few facts, such as the time it took to train the guinea pigs and then how its much faster by just switching to their insurance. The audience realizes these facts are indisputable, and thanks to the pathos appeal they are more apt to listen, rather than just spewing out a bunch of facts and expecting the audience to hear them out.
ReplyDeleteAs we all know, Geico is famed for their humorous commercials that capture our attention and make us remember the Geico name. The obvious message that everyone here seems to have commented on is that switching to Geico is a very quick and simple way to save money, versus training hamsters to row a boat. The basic point being that Geico is using humor to capture your attention and remember the product they are selling. Think about it. When you get older and get your own place and car and are responsible for grown-up things, like car insurance, what is the first car insurance company you are going to think of? Chances are you will remember Geico because of all the funny commercials they've aired over the years. You may or may not buy their insurance, but a good chunk of people will, regardless of whether or not they're insurance is worth buying. So if you're trying to become a marketing major, it may be worth your time to study Geico commercials, as they are a prime example of effective advertising.
ReplyDeleteI think this commercial does a great job of using the binary between how easy it can be to get Geico and save money and the crazy lengths that some people will go to just to save a few bucks. The elaborate description of how the man went through 20 months of work to save a few dollars a month on electricity hooks the viewer and has them thinking that the man is crazy. Then Geico throws in their marketing ploy and hooks the viewer into thinking they should just save some money the easy way and get Geico. The advertising is subtle but effective.
ReplyDeleteThe commercial mainly used binary to show the amazing speed of 4G. Other than the most obvious binary that the two people who have 4G always know the news before others, there is another great binary that in the whole commercial, the two people are always sit there leisurely, while others are rushing all the time. This binary implies that one has 4G can know new things easily and without move a little bit, emphasizing the sense of leisure and being cool when using 4G.
ReplyDelete