The very cockney gekko has been around since 1999, making him one of the more successful of insurance mascots. As he’s a 3D animated pitchman, he’s not changed much in the last 9 years (which is more than I can say for most of us.) While the cavemen went on to a shortlived series, the gecko has stayed true to his commercial roots. Interestingly, the gekko commercials have actually been both very consistent, and if anything, better over the years.

The latest one manages to poke gentle fun at GEICO itself, without making the viewer feel as if they’re being conned, and without the humor making us think less of the sponsor, just to get a laugh. That’s pretty amazing.

[NOTE: I'd post a copy of the spot here, but I've not found it online yet.]

The latest spot takes us to the GEICO executive wing, where a company representative is talking with the gecko, in order to share a few “helpful” suggestions on how to make the TV spots even better. They slip the “GEICO is the third-largest insurance company in America” factoid in so smoothly, you might not even realize it’s the main point of the spot. However, when the exec offers a tiny suit and tie up for the gecko to wear in future spots, the gecko’s reaction is…well…priceless. You really beleive the gecko is real, with the persona of a working stiff who’s torn between telling the truth and employing diplomacy to keep from suffering the same fate as the Taco Bell chihuahua and Speedy Alka-Seltzer.

In every gecko ad, the gecko is the “sugar” that makes the medicine (message) go down easy – so easy, in fact, most people might be aware they’ve seen a commercial, but are oblivious to the fact that they are being marketed-to in a very sophisticated way.

It says something when a 3D, computer-generated pitch-lizard can seem more real than Dave Lennox or the Maytag Repairman. It says that the gecko has become a part of the marketingverse to the point where he’s as familiar as any other well-loved corporate spokesman.

That’ll do, gecko. That’ll do.

I never met Don in person, but I had the opportunity to work with him on some TV spots, and I know his wife, Anita, well. (She’s from my hometown of Shreveport, LA, and my Dad wrote the arrangement she used of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to go to the Miss American pageant, as Miss Louisiana.)

By all accounts, everyone that knew Don called him a great guy. My cousin (who visited Don and Anita in California a bunch) tells me he was witty, with a wicked sense of humor, and not at all pompous or distant in the way that celebrities can be. I can attest personally to the fact that he was generous to a fault, and was willing to “put his money where his mouth is” when it comes to causes he would support.

It’s hard for me to think about Don in the past tense. While there are other voiceover artists that mimic’d Don’s style and delivery, there will never be another Don LaFontaine. My heart and prayers go out to Anita and their kids in what must be a very difficult time. Please keep them in your prayers.

In a world of advertising, where too few voiceover artists have the ability to create a distinctive sound, Don LaFontaine will be missed.