NICKNAME: Kash
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: In 1999, the Martin Agency, an advertising group based in Virginia, teamed up with a European visual effects company to create "Martin the Gecko". This cute little CGI reptile speaks with a muddled British (or possibly Australian) accent and claims that "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance by switching to Geico".
From here, it was obvious to everyone that the next series of ads should have something to do with bohemian cavemen. But the Martin Agency was stumped. It needed a big time movie star in one of its commercials: someone to solidify their Geico caveman vision. The answer may surprise some, but the Martin Agency decided to let Talia Shire, who is best known for her roles as Adrian in the Rocky films and Connie Corleone in the Godfather trilogy, have a crack at it by playing a caveman therapist.
"So easy, a weird pet shop owner could do it"
I have a theory on why they chose Talia Shire to represent the cavemen saga. I figure The Martin Agency was at first interested in Sylvester Stallone because he is a well known actor who slightly resembles a Neanderthal.
When Sly said no, the agency went back to the Rocky tapes and tried this guy.
When he said no, they went with Shire.
Which brings us to 2008, and the emergence of Geico's newest cult icon, "Kash". Kash, or the Geico Money Face, consists of two paper-banded stacks of U.S. Bills with a pair of round, white googly eyes attached on the top. His appearance, which is always seen at the end of the commercials, is accompanied by Mysto & Pizzi's remix of the 1980's Rockwell song "Somebody's Watching Me".
Kash represents the money you could be saving by switching to Geico. Unfortunately, Kash's stupid, annoying, and often stalkerish qualities tend to make people hate money and savings, even when they are broke.
Anti-Kash demonstrations break out in Circus, Circus (Las Vegas).
Kash is also a known womanizer, and has been called "wife stealer" by many. The following commercial does little to refute this claim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlwjIhHMWLQ
The origins of Kash are still somewhat mysterious, although most believe the Geico character can be traced back to the Nintendo 64 games Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live & Reloaded. In these video games, the main character Conker is supposed to collect Fajo, or foul-mouthed wads of money with googly eyes. Sometimes they smoke cigars.
According to Wikipedia, here are some of the quotes Fajo say in the video game:
- "Hey! Some money over here!"
- "Hey!"
- "Somebody get me!"
- "Here I am, ya greedy bastard!"
- "So, you want some green stuff?"
- "Hey, where the
you been, you ginger bastard?!"
Maybe if Kash cussed out people in his Geico commercials, he'd be cooler. But he just sits there. And now he will be sitting on your team.
WHAT'S HE DOING NOW: I'm not really sure. But it kind of feels like..somebody's watching me.
POSITION ON YOUR TEAM: Recruiting tool.
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