Dear GEICO: This ad is not funny!

[Brigid]

Not in these tough economic times. Making a joke out of somebody being fired? Really?

And for the "lighten up Francis" crowd, yeah, I'm overreacting. But this ad just rubbed me the wrong way.

[monmouth3]

1. I absolutely agree and I'd go so far as to say the ad was just plain stupid...n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

2. I don't think it's funny because it's just not funny, but...

that one about the guy at the meeting telling the boss his idea sucked and then lugging his stuff out is hilarious.

[Brigid]

5. I haven't seen that one.

I looked on youtube and found nothing. I tried Google and the first thing I got was: This thread!

[CFLDem]

3. It's not ha ha funny

more like ho ho uh oh funny...

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Lighten up, Francis

Love always,

The Lighten Up Francis Crowd

[JEFF9K]

6. The guy who got fired was a Republican ...

... so it's okay. Too much political correctness hurts the Democratic cause.

[Hoppy]

7. GEICO is the company that went belly-up in N.J. about 20 years ago,

For several years, we had to pay a surcharge on our insurance to pay the claims that the Gekko couldn't or wouldn't.

[DebJ]

19. Jersey drove all the auto insurance companies out of business back in the day.

Jersey wouldn't allow premiums high enough to cover claims, so all the insurers ended up saying "No thank you"
and so Jersey had to cover auto insurance itself. Royal Insurance Co managed their claims for them.
Jersey charged the lower premiums they claimed were sufficient to cover claims, and ended up getting hit very badly.

I worked for a different division of Royal in Maryland for awhile, that's how I found out. Royal Insurance was a fantastic
place to work back in the 1990s.

I've had Geico auto coverage since 2003, and have found it to be fantastic. I didn't get 15% off, I got 50% off from State Farm AND they added my 16 year old daughter to the policy with her Learner's Permit....included in the 50% off. Claims have been handled extremely rapidly and well. Service on road calls is outstanding. I ran junkers for years and always had at least one tow job a year, making paying the premiums a sweet deal for me.

I do remember them having problems many decades ago, but in my eyes, I would never go anywhere else.

[dionysus]

20. i have them for both my auto and home insurance,haven't had a problem.

[1000words]

8. "Really?", indeed.

[kiawah]

9. THIS is the outrage of the day?! Ugh...

[Brigid]

11. Not really.

But neither is it a subject for humor.

[pipi_k]

22. Well, to be fair...

You have every right to not find it funny.

I don't find it particularly amusing myself.


But it's not something I would claim is unsuitable for anyone else.


The point I'm trying to make here is that while losing one's job can suck, there are things that can suck a whole lot more and probably do deserve to be called out if they're ever used in a humorous way.

I would hardly rank an attempt at humor using losing a job with, say, finding humor in rape, murder, child molestation, or similar.

[Logical]

10. You know people legitimately get fired every day, correct? nt

[Brigid]

12. Of course they do.

And that isn't funny either; it means something serious has happened that has to be dealt with.

But without context, this is just some random, hapless cube rat told -- in front of everyone-- that he's fired. Sorry, but that just doesn't hit the funny bone.

[6000eliot]

13. GEICO ads are NEVER funny, even when they aren't offensive.

[Brigid]

14. They need a new ad agency.

They really do.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

30. Amen to that. The lizard, gecko, whatever...

is cute, but beyond that, their ads suck. And Flo of Progressive has had her 15 minutes.

[Jamaal510]

15. I didn't

find the ad offensive, but as a rule of thumb, very few Geico ads are actually funny (and non-annoying).

[ryan_cats]

16. I though it was supposed to be Lundberg from Office Space

I though it was supposed to be Lundberg from Office Space?

I tried to post a picture of him but it wouldn't post.

[dionysus]

21. uhhhhh, yeahhhhh, peter, i need to to go ahead and work this weeend.. yeah......

[ChisolmTrailDem]

17. OFCOL! This is what you're worried about???

SMH!

[starroute]

18. I saw that on TV and found it really offensive

Some of that series have been mildly amusing (I kind of like the tree-falls-in-a-forest one), but this was not only a dud but a "what were they thinking" dud.

[el_bryanto]

23. It's a snail with a tie and glasses

It's kind of funny.

Also I'm a heartless bastard.

Bryant

[pipi_k]

28. OK I have to admit...

that one amusing aspect of it, for me, is the trail of slime the snail-boss leaves behind him...

[Dreamer Tatum]

24. A snail is wearing a tie. Lighten up, Francis. nt

[gort]

25. It was probably inspired by this joke

A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. A year later, there’s another knock at the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says, “What was that all about?”

[HERVEPA]

26. OK. So a serious subject can never be joked about? Really?????

[madville]

27. Maybe he deserved it

Most of the time people get fired around here it's for good reasons: stealing, drugs, drinking at work, misusing vehicles, absenteeism, etc, etc. Maybe we don't know the whole story about good 'ol Todd......

[pipi_k]

29. Hmmm...you have a point there...

What the hell was Todd doing when the boss slimed over to him?

What did he quickly hide under his desk?


Maybe he has a stash of porn magazines under there.

[Ino]

31. Reminds me of the "hilarious" GM ad...

about the robot who got fired and committed suicide

[pipi_k]

35. As someone with

a couple of (human) family members who really did commit suicide (not just dream about it), I don't find that commercial terribly offensive.

Not sure if it was intended to be "ha-ha" funny, but still...

[MrScorpio]

32. How dare they make light from this horrible epidemic of snails firing people!

Sure, this horrible gastropod tyrant of a boss, with his ridiculous necktie and eyeglasses ensemble, is nothing more than a poorly imagined metaphor of the ruthlessness of the corporationist controlled labor market. But I say it's time for these slave driving mollusks learn about real "bad news..." Serve them up on a plate, tastefully season them with fresh herbs and spices, and accentuated by a flavorful California wine.

When they finally understand that the American worker will no longer stand for any more abuse by these hell-spawned invertebrates, that they're better served in a tapas bar, rather than trailing slime through our work places, inflicting emotional turmoil on underpaid and overworked employees, then we'll no longer have to stomach any more heartless and tasteless depictions like that GEICO commercial.

Yes, that was a poorly constructed attempt at so-called "dry humor." But at whose expense?

Thank you for directing our attention to this flagrant disregard for basic human decency and humanity. But how much of that are we to expect from a soulless imp of a boss, festooned with nothing more than a shell and a penchant for publicly displayed sadism?

[Brigid]

33. Hey, at least this post is funny.

Geico needs to hire you to map out a new ad campaign.

[Cali_Democrat]

34. I saw that before

I agree with you.

Didn't like it.

[dilby]

36. I thought it was funny.

People get fired, big deal and notice his boss was a snail, maybe bosses will be upset because they get portrayed as something that leaves a slime trail.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

37. What if whatever it is he's hiding under his desk was

pornographic material that was creating a hostile work environment for female employees or racist and offensive to people of color? Maybe the snail had already counseled him that such things were not appropriate in the work environment but the employee chose to ignore that material and persist in his behavior thus creating a civil rights liability for the company.

Or maybe the employee defrauded a client or misappropriated company assets. Maybe the employee is responsible for compliancy and due to poor performance the company is failing to meet regulatory requirements. You wouldn't want the snail to ignore such things, would you?

Exit question -- Does the color yellow sometimes make you sad?

[onenote]

38. Since you acknowledge you are overreacting, you get a pass.

[MrNJ]

39. None of Geico (or progressive insurance) ads are funny.

I fail to be offended by this one.

Liberty Mutual ads make me chuckle sometimes though.