Geico Cavemen Prep For TV Sitcom

Nearly all have seen the Geico caveman commercials. The ad spots have received such positive feedback that a television show centered around the prehistoric men is in the works.

Earlier this month, Variety reported that ABC is developing a half-hour show based on the Geico caveman characters. The script was written by Joe Lawson, the advertising copywriter behind the Geico series.

According to Esquire, “The Geico caveman sprung from the pages of a creative brief sent to the insurer from its advertising agency, the Martin Agency.”

Esquire reporter Erin Schulte sat down with Geico and the Martin Agency’s creative team to find out more about the whole “modern caveman” idea.

Ted Ward, VP of marketing for Geico, said, “Here you have this Neanderthal from hundreds of thousands of years ago, in today’s world. We liked the visual juxtaposition of current technology and cave people coming together.”

Schulte then asked, “People seem to love the lumpy-headed characters. What do you think their appeal is?”

Lawson joked, “Obviously, it’s their incredible sex appeal.”

All joking aside, Lawson continued, “On a base level, everyone likes humor, and we use dialogue-driven humor, whereas most commercials or sitcoms are over the top or slapstick. People are leaning more toward subtle, character-driven dialogue. It’s why shows like The Office and single-camera comedies, like Extras, do well.”

Meanwhile, the driving force behind the sitcom idea may be evident in Lawson’s response to the question of when he knew the commercial was going to be a hit.

Lawson said, “I think we knew they were catching on when SportsCenter used one of the lines from the “Apology,” the “roast duck with mango salsa” line. In addition to that, the comments on YouTube were really positive. And the spots were getting a ton of views. But basically there’s no real way of knowing whether your audience is responding to the work or not. You just put it our there and hope for the best. Advertising is not a science, nor is it an art. It’s an abyss. You learn all you can, you use every tool you have, but in the end, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, you’re going where no one’s gone before. Regardless, after the second round of commercials came out, we knew we had something. The press and the blogosphere were definitely taking notice.”

Who will play the lead caveman role is yet to be announced, but we would like to throw Val Kilmer’s name into the mix.

Check out one of the acclaimed Geico ad spots below:

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