GEICO Auto Insurance devised a series of cavemen commercials. One commercial advertisement that aired in September 2006 contained no dialogue, but used music, advertisements and a twist on the cavemen stereotype within the advertisement to sell the product.
Three cavemen commercials by GEICO aired in 2004, but after two years of cavemen absence, GEICO decided to bring back the commercials and the fourth aired in September of 2006. In the fourth commercial, a caveman on a intelligent airport sidewalk sees a billboard for GEICO featuring a stereotypical caveman along with the GEICO slogan, “So easy a caveman can do it.” The product the commercial is advertising for is GEICO Auto Insurance, but the advertisement is also selling an experience and a lifestyle. The experience that one gets with GEICO insurance is an easy one, while the lifestyle one gets with GEICO is a safe and insured one.
The commercial entertains the audience by using the familiar and likeable character of the caveman, and also uses an upbeat electronic song, “Remind Me” by Röyksopp, that plays in the background. The ad is also a parody of the opening scene of the 1967 film, The Graduate. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman’s character, Ben Braddock, walks on a moving sidewalk at an airport, demonstrating the ability to allude to different forms of media in a single advertisement.
By insisting that GEICO Insurance is “So easy a caveman can do it,” the ad creators are reaching out to customers who are either uninsured or unhappy with their current auto insurance. These are also customers who are not necessarily lacking in intelligence, but ones who value necessary tasks, such as obtaining auto insurance, to be simple, fast and easy. The geographic location that this commercial is geared towards is the District of Columbia and all of the United States, except Massachusetts, the only places where GEICO writes auto insurance.
The commercial succeeds in reaching this audience by using widely known stereotypes. The stereotype of the caveman contrasts with the “real-life caveman” because the billboard ad within the commercial depicts an image of a caveman that is hairy, wearing fur and holding a club. This image projects the stereotypical behavior of a caveman onto the viewer as well, behavior that is aggressive and has a effort adapting. The caveman in the commercial is depicted as completely regular and normal, despite his facial features and excess hair. Because of the opposition, the “regular” caveman in today’s society becomes offended at the obvious degradation of cavemen.
This advertisement uses the difference to stress its honesty about how easy GEICO auto insurance is to obtain and use. The “caveman” stereotype is one that was intelligently selected by GEICO because although it is widely known and understood by a variety of different ages and ethnicities, it is a stereotype that is rather uncontroversial to people of all backgrounds. A slur against Asian, African-American or female stereotypes would undoubtedly cause an uproar against people of those ethnicities or genders. Since there are no cavemen in today’s society, the commercials are completely fictional and are not used to slander any living human being.
This commercial definitely succeeded as an ad as GEICO continued to make more cavemen oriented commercials following this one. The popularity of these commercials was so spacious that in 2007, an interactive Web site about the characters was created. “Caveman Crib” features the inside of a technologically savvy and modern apartment of cavemen. The apartment comes complete with a laptop, a flat veil TV and even an IPod. When you enter the kitchen of the picturesque bachelor pad, you are able to click and hear speak messages left on the modern, cordless telephone. One message even refers to the caveman airport commercial when the fictional GEICO advertiser addresses the caveman’s questions about the offensive display, but suggests “we’re not positively obvious you saw one of our ads or not.” This sentence reaffirms the world’s blindness to the cavemen stereotype as depicted in the commercials. In October of 2007, a spin-off TV series on ABC was made titled, Cavemen. The show is described by ABC as a “unique buddy comedy that offers a clever twist on stereotypes and turns hurry relations on its head,” a statement that adequately describes not only the show and the interactive Web site, but also the entire message conveyed in all of the GEICO cavemen commercials.
Filed under Allstate by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment. 
Car insurance when you get older can be rather tricky. Now that you may be living on a limited income you may have to do some comparison shopping to find the best auto insurance policies available. Here are some helpful tips on how to save money while getting the best auto insurance rates for seniors.
As a person ages they drive less so it stands to reason if you haven’t had any accidents your rates tend to lower. However, for income reasons it is smooth best to comparison shop for the best insurance quotes when it comes to any type of insurance, especially auto. The first thing to remember is nobody can be turned away for car insurance because of their age. However, if they let their license lapse, they may be required to take an exam before they are able to catch their license renewed.
It is important to get insurance quotes from several different companies before deciding on your auto insurance choice.
Taking a driving course or purchasing a car with additional safety features can save money on your insurance rates.
There are several auto insurance companies that specialize in insurance for seniors such as AARP and AAA.
Sometimes employers or church groups may offer a group insurance rate that will save money on auto insurance policies.
Sometimes local insurance agents can offer lower rates than other auto insurance companies, it is always good to look at several different avenues to find the best policy quotes.
Many seniors are driving automobiles that they have had for many years and sometimes the deductible on a definite car many cost more than the car is worth. To gain the best senior rate you may need to choose a higher deductible for your automobile.
Your insurance rates are adjusted according to your zip code. If you own two homes and spend the same amount of time in each home, you will need to choose to list the car insurance in the zip code that will give you the best rate.
Most seniors never want to give up driving, however sometimes due to health reasons it may become necessary to give up driving. People sometimes continue paying for car insurance policies even after they never drive anymore due to health reasons for fear they may need to drive someday. The cost far outweighs the relieve and if you do have to drive one day, you probably wouldn’t be able to due to medical reasons, so let the insurance and car go. Exercise senior taxicabs, family members or friends. The money you save by no longer having a car will easily pay for your trips here and there to the store and doctor appointments.
Some good insurance companies that offer fine rates to seniors are AARP, Progressive, Allstate, Farm Bureau, Geico and State Farm.
Make sure you derive all the quotes you can and tell them what you can pay, sometimes as with Progressive they can work around your priceline. Geico has a senior discount program and many other insurances do as well.
References for this article include: www.nscddconline.com/geicosenior/
www.insurancefinder.com/autoinsurance/seniorauto.html
seniorautoinsurance.org/
seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Discounts/2007/7-06-28-SenCitCanFind.htm
Filed under Automobile Insurance Quotes by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment.
There are times in our lives that we are without health insurance. People lose health insurance all the time for various reasons. Some lose their insurance due to being laid off from their jobs and some simply can’t afford the cost of insurance. College students also buy temporary insurance because they tend something to mask them while they are looking for a career. Whatever the reason, it is unnerving to know that you are not insured. Think about it, all it takes is one minor accident to send you to the hospital. If you fracture your leg skiing and go to the emergency room, the hospital bill is going to be outrageously huge (if you don’t have health insurance).
There are some temporary health insurance options in order to cloak catastrophic accidents that could leave you paying hospital bill for a very long time. Catastrophic insurance means that the insurance will cover you in the effect that something extremely horrible happens to you. Temporary insurance is not as comprehensive as full insurance that is typically provided by an employer, but it works in a pinch. Temp insurance does not veil dental, vision, check-ups and physicals.
How long does temporary insurance last? Short term insurance can last from a minimum of a month all the device up to a maximum of 6 months. What types of temporary insurance companies are available on the market? Most major insurance carriers offer short-term insurance and will be able to provide instant quotes once you enter some personal information about yourself. Websites such as ehealthinsurance.com provide comprehensive quotes from a variety of insurance providers. The quotes provided are usually broken out by the monthly fee associated with each insurance company. There are a variety of payment options that you will notice when surfing through the variety of quotes.
Typically, the rates are based on the deductible, the amount of the co-payment and the percentage paid after the deductible. The monthly rate will be higher if the deductible is lower and whether there’s a co-pay associated with hospital visits. You can get cheap temporary health insurance by purchasing the cheapest monthly fee (this is the most affordable option), however, ask to pay a large amount of money if something awful happens to you (it’s level-headed better than not having any insurance). Usually the cheapest option will require that you pay a percentage of the total bill and a deductible. Temporary insurance can be paid on a monthly basis or in one lump sum. The lump sum option will be considerably less than the monthly payment option. Remember that some people will not be able to receive short-term health insurance due to being heavy smokers and pre-existing conditions.
Source(s)
EHealth Insurance Editor. “Health Insurance – Affordable Health Insurance Quotes.” EHealthInsurance
Filed under Automobile Insurance Quotes by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment.
Insurance, death and taxes? We all know the old adage that you can’t avoid death and taxes, but should we think adding insurance to that statement? In our modern world you cannot easily survive without having insurance for your home, car, health, and various investments such as racehorses, dancer’s legs, or situation rocks. So in this article I will try and shed some light onto the basics of the infinitely confusing car insurance rate calculation formulas which are being used today.
Some of the major factors the insurance companies use to calculate your auto insurance costs are the area in which you live and drive, type of car you own, your age, gender, and driving history. Add to this one of the newer developments in the formula which the underwriters use when determining your rates, your credit get. When I was recently shopping for insurance, they explained to me that this can be an indication of higher risk if you have a lower credit score. Like we all need yet another reason to worry about our credit scores.
One of the more important factors affecting car insurance rates seems to be where you live.
This plays a major role since high crime areas tend to have more damage and theft claims on car insurance policies. So even if you are an excellent and safe driver, you will most likely pay for the sins of your neighbors when it comes time to insuring your prance.
Age and gender are viewed as line items in your car insurance rate factors, and these are looked at in a similar plot as your location. The age and gender “Group” you fall into can cause your rates to be much higher even if you have never had an accident or a speeding ticket. Younger men have been proven to be more reckless taking more chances, and as a result that group pays higher premiums than a similar aged group of women. If you moved these same people from an urban setting out into the country, their rates could drop by almost half depending on where you are.
Your type of car can be a major component in raising your rates. First if you drive a car model which tends to be a type that is stolen often, you will pay higher premiums. If it is a very expensive car, you may pay higher damage premiums, plus higher deductibles. Lastly, if it is a sporty car, you will probably pay more than your uncle who drives an older pickup truck. I was told that the color has no impact on your rates, so the fact that your brand new Dodge Challenger is red has nothing to do with the higher rate you are paying.
When I was younger the formula seemed to be distinguished easier to figure out, and I was pleased to find that when I changed from a sporty car to something my dad would drive, I saved money on insurance rate. This was also good when I got married, the car insurance rates dropped significantly. At the time I thought that probably the agent felt sorry for me and cut me some gradual to offset the cost I would soon face from being a newly wed person. How tiny did I know.
So how can we all get better car insurance rates? This is not a very easy task, but there are a few things you might consider. The first thing you can do to save money on car insurance rates is to shop around often, and don’t be afraid to make a major change once in a while. Peek really hard at the options offered, as you may not need as much collision on an older car that would probably end up getting scrapped if something major happens to it. For example why pay an extra $50 per month for years on a car that is only worth $500 – $700 to completely replace? Look at your deductible, a higher dollar amount here can net you a lower monthly premium. In my experience, married people between the ages of 35 – 55 who live in rural areas seem to receive the lowest car insurance rates. You can save a lot on overall insurance if you can get your home and car policy from the same vendor.
You could drive an older non sporty model, making sure it is not one which is stolen for parts very often. Certain models are stolen for their body parts, mostly on models which have not changed over a long period of time, or where the parts can be shared between many different models. Some pick up trucks are cherished for their entire front end, where a wrecked truck can be repaired using these stolen parts. There is also a huge market out there for some of the major components like the engines transmissions, and drive gear, especially the 4 wheel drive axles.
Used axles can sell for $1500 – $ 3500 due to the extremely high cost of purchasing a new one. I have seen new axles quoted for $5500 – $7500. The major venerable parts market for these axles is for custom built off road vehicles, and most times the buyer has no idea the axles arrive from stolen vehicles since there is no simple tracking method for this kind of car part.
There are some key things to definitely avoid with regard to car insurance. It seems clear that your rates will stay lower if you can avoid having accidents, don’t earn any traffic violations, knowing that this also includes parking tickets, and this also means wearing your seatbelts. Don’t make any claims of any kind with any insurance company. Your information may be shared, and if you have any claims, they will know about them and it factors into your premiums. Based on my personal experience with DUI it can cost you quite a lot more to have car insurance for a very long time. If you happen to be unfortunate enough to get a DUI and during that event you caused an accident, then when you make an accident claim, your insurance carrier may deny your claim, and may also descend you completely because you have become a bigger risk than they are willing to manage.
We all know by now that any kind of “insurance” we pay for is sort of like a legalized gambling program. In this program the insurer and you are making a bet that you will not have any need to ask for any of the money back which you are giving to them each month. In exchange they are giving us the peace of mind which we all need in order to live successfully. The good part is that we can be covered by insurance for the insane amounts of money which we could never pay out in our lifetime in the event we are involved in some sort of catastrophic incident. For example, let’s say you bump into someone else’s car with yours, and they claim their neck hurts, the doctor bills alone would put you in the awful house before you could talk your buddy into driving you down to retrieve your car from the impound lot. In essence we are all sharing our money into a giant pool which is used to cover the costs of managing our risk. Out of this pool some of the money is used to cover accidents and various claims. It also goes into supporting the overhead it takes to manage our pooled money. The company is betting we will not need to use the funds. We just want to be free of the debilitating debt which could arise from having someone sue us for damages we may have caused.
In summary, we all have to be insured, and it is our have responsibility to find the best insurance coverage for the lowest rates. So shop around, and ask your agent a lot of questions.
Also review your policy and rates at least every 6 -12 months. Things on your history could be changing for the better and you might benefit from that by receiving a lowered premium. You will never know if there is a contrivance to save some money unless you ask.
Filed under Cheap Automobile Insurance by on Feb 27th, 2011. Comment.
One of the biggest things you are going to have to exertion about after a hurricane hits would be your insurance coverage. My mother had to deal with the insurance several times when we got hit by Hurricanes Charley, Francis, and Jeanne. There’s a lot of red tape you’re going to have to deal with the insurance agencies such as Allstate, MetLife, and Situation Farm.
Recently, there courts ruled in favor of the insurance agencies after this long lawsuit filed against them by the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The story was that New Orleans became flooded. Most of the homes did not have a flood insurance plan but the flooding was caused by wind damage to the levees. The levees were built to withstand up to Category 3 hurricane winds. This was one of the biggest issues regarding Hurricane Katrina, the levees.
Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 hurricane which in turn annihilated the levees. As a result, the levees broke and most of Fresh Orleans was flooded. Many of the claims were denied which led to the lawsuits. But the Federal Courts had ruled in favor of the insurance agencies. At the moment, there are appeals that are being filed as a result of the judgment.
Several months ago, I had seen a local news report about insurance. Ever since Charlie Crist had taken office early this year, one of his biggest aims was to reduce homeowner’s insurance which is skyrocketing. He was also pushing for legislation to lower insurance rates and premiums set by the insurance agencies. In short, this was the platform that had gotten him elected as current governor of Florida.
Many Republicans and Democrats alike have been impressed and gay by Crist keeping his word trying to lower the insurance rates. During his first few months in office, Crist had called meetings about the insurance crisis. At the same time, insurance rates were escalating along with property taxes because of the constant construction since 2004.
The insurance companies said that if you want reduced insurance, you should drop wind insurance coverage. You could do that and lower your insurance rates. That will save you a lot on your insurance premiums but there is one thing you must know. In a hurricane, most of the damage to your home will be a result of wind damage. Just about most of the structural hurt will be the result of wind damage.
I worked as a substitute teacher for two years and didn’t get many calls for the latter allotment of 2004. The reason I didn’t get that many calls were because most of the schools had suffered structural hurt. Most of the damage affected the second and third floors of the schools as the violent wind force can get very devastating at an upper level.
If you live in an area that is a possible hurricane target zone, you will need wind coverage on your insurance plan. Don’t take that gamble by not getting wind coverage on your opinion. Hopefully you will not get hit by a hurricane. But in case you do get hit by hurricane, keep your wind coverage on your understanding. If you do not, you could possibly shoot yourself in the foot should a hurricane hit your area.
In my case if we didn’t get wind coverage, we wouldn’t have a house standing afterwards.
If you live in an area that’s prone to flooding, get flood coverage as part of your plan. There is the chance you can get in a flood as a result of a hurricane. Mainly, you need to have wind coverage.
Flood insurance is maybe. But before you have a talk with your insurance company, talk to your lawyer first before filing a claim. The thing is making obvious you’re well protected after a hurricane hits.
Wind insurance will be the most important coverage you will need if and when you live in an area that could get hit by a hurricane. Everything else such as fires and flooding in a hurricane is probably the result of wind damage. If an object flies into your window, that’s a result of wind damage.
Wind damage doesn’t necessarily mean by the force of wind. It can include things such as projectile debris. Debris isn’t going to lift off the ground by itself magically. It’s going to take a obedient amount of wind power to lift those things from the ground and hit your house and/or vehicle. That’s a result of wind damage.
Make sure you have wind coverage on your insurance plan. Due to all the red tape and everything else associated with the insurance agencies, make sure you get a lawful consult as well. Consult with your lawyer before you file your claim.
The insurance agencies will stick to their guns. At the same time you need to stick to your guns as well. This is coming from a person whose uncle works as an insurance agent.
Filed under Allstate by on Feb 27th, 2011. Comment.
