Longtime voice of GEICO commercials fired after pressure (and harassment) from Tea Party members.
April 21, 2010 7:14 AM Subscribe
The longtime voice of the GEICO commercials was fired after pressure (and harassment) from Tea Party members & FreedomWorks. Here's the voicemail that led to the controversy.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Ugh, looks like one of your previous posts was a shill for one of the clients of the marketing firm you work for. Adios. -- cortex
Everyone knows that Gecko is related to the British royal family - I mean just look at him.
posted by three blind mice at 7:22 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by three blind mice at 7:22 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
Did the teabaggers take down the site as well, or was that us?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:23 AM on April 21, 2010
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:23 AM on April 21, 2010
"Dick Armey" has to be the most appropriate name ever given to a person, object, or slime mold.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:25 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by dirigibleman at 7:25 AM on April 21, 2010 [2 favorites]
Why are these people such assholes? I mean, don't they ever get tired of it?
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 7:27 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 7:27 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Here's some other coverage until myvoiceoverguy.com recovers.
posted by Plutor at 7:28 AM on April 21, 2010
posted by Plutor at 7:28 AM on April 21, 2010
NSFW on the video.
He doesn't seem to have left the message "in character" so really I have to say that GEICO is a major part of the problem here. Wasn't he basically fired for having and expressing a political opinion on his own time?
posted by DU at 7:29 AM on April 21, 2010
He doesn't seem to have left the message "in character" so really I have to say that GEICO is a major part of the problem here. Wasn't he basically fired for having and expressing a political opinion on his own time?
posted by DU at 7:29 AM on April 21, 2010
Hmm, i was about to switch my car insurance to GEICO because I was actually going to save some money. But this has changed my mind. Any company that caves to these whinging wingnuts over something so trivial doesn't deserve my business.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 7:29 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mrbarrett.com at 7:29 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
At first I thought you were talking about the State Farm guy.
posted by anniecat at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010
posted by anniecat at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010
Why are these people such assholes? I mean, don't they ever get tired of it?
Sure, they need plenty of down time too, just like everyone. That's when they go home, watch Idol, beat their kids or go cruising for twinks down by the community center.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sure, they need plenty of down time too, just like everyone. That's when they go home, watch Idol, beat their kids or go cruising for twinks down by the community center.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, he's not the guy who voices the gecko. Here's a video of some of his work.
posted by Plutor at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010
posted by Plutor at 7:31 AM on April 21, 2010
mrbarrett.com : That might be something worth dropping them a note about. Yeah, it is unlikely to actually do anything, but if enough people did it they might fret just a little. Hells bells they caved to the Tea Party after all.
http://www.geico.com/about/contactus/email/
posted by edgeways at 7:33 AM on April 21, 2010
http://www.geico.com/about/contactus/email/
posted by edgeways at 7:33 AM on April 21, 2010
Here's a working link with comments from D.C. Douglas, the fired actor.
"We can't let these kinds of tactics become the norm in our country. If we do, then anybody can lose their job just for voicing an opinion."
I agree. But I wonder whether he feels the same when "these kinds of tactics" are used by his side of the aisle, as they were against people who signed or donated their support to the Proposition 8 push in California. Because I'll bet there's a lot of overlap (on MetaFilter, for instance) between people who supported those tactics in that situation but condemn them here.
posted by cribcage at 7:35 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
"We can't let these kinds of tactics become the norm in our country. If we do, then anybody can lose their job just for voicing an opinion."
I agree. But I wonder whether he feels the same when "these kinds of tactics" are used by his side of the aisle, as they were against people who signed or donated their support to the Proposition 8 push in California. Because I'll bet there's a lot of overlap (on MetaFilter, for instance) between people who supported those tactics in that situation but condemn them here.
posted by cribcage at 7:35 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
He works in advertising. It's great that he left an irritable voicemail for a bunch of fascists, but he's already Working for the Clampdown. Who cares?
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:36 AM on April 21, 2010
posted by Mayor Curley at 7:36 AM on April 21, 2010
Any company that caves to these whinging wingnuts over something so trivial doesn't deserve my business.
It's just business. Any company that caves to the demands of their customers - even trivial, stupid, meaningless demands - deserves my business.
Pity I don't own a car.
posted by three blind mice at 7:36 AM on April 21, 2010
It's just business. Any company that caves to the demands of their customers - even trivial, stupid, meaningless demands - deserves my business.
Pity I don't own a car.
posted by three blind mice at 7:36 AM on April 21, 2010
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posted by pwally at 7:22 AM on April 21, 2010 [1 favorite]