WASHINGTON — You probably try to skip the ads on online videos, and Geico knows that. But, with its latest ad, you’ll likely keep watching.
The pre-roll ad starts out with a family at a dinner table.
You hear the narrator say, “You can’t skip this Geico ad because it’s already over.”
The logo appears and the family tries to remain frozen as a Saint Bernard mix jumps on the table and eats his way through their spaghetti dinner, eating right off the dad’s fork and the plates of two children while also knocking over a salad and glass of milk.
You see the dog for 45 seconds. And, you can’t help but watch.
“Human nature makes you keep watching the ad to see if this going to be a train wreck,” David Schwab, senior vice president of entertainment at Octagon, an entertainment marketing specialist, tells USA TODAY.
“This ad makes you stick around.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvcj9xptNOQ
Joe Alexander, chief creative officer at The Martin Agency, created the ad and other mock freeze-frame Geico spots.
“Our goal is to bring attention to Geico in a space that is often hated,” he tells USA TODAY.
People watching the ad are sucked in, waiting to see whether somebody moves or what happens next.
It took 10 takes before Bolt the dog and the actors nailed it, Alexander said.
So far, the ad has been seen 1.2 million times on YouTube.
Here are three other “unskippable” Geico ads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dvx060Rx3g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmzm1JCOqtU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSpGEjdIN1Y
