Unskippable
Geico2015
Unskippable is a 2015 youTube pre-roll for Geico, created by The Martin Agency, Richmond.
The line
You can't skip this Geico ad, because it's already over.
Why it works
A run of YouTube pre-roll ads that deliver the whole sales message in the five seconds before the skip button appears, then keep rolling. In 'Family', the best known, a mother delivers her line, a voiceover points out that you can't skip this Geico ad because it's already over, and the actors hold still at the dinner table beneath a huge logo while the family dog climbs up and eats its way through the spaghetti. Made by The Martin Agency and directed by Terri Timely, the campaign is studied because it was designed around the viewer's habit of skipping: the compulsory seconds carry the brand, and the optional ones become the entertainment. D&AD's archive records more than 10 million views in the first month. In 2015 the Cannes Film jury gave 'Family' the Grand Prix for non-television film, praising it for reinventing the least glamorous media buy there is, and Adweek named 'Unskippable' its best ad campaign of the year.
Techniques
- Humour The sales message ends before the skip button appears, then the actors freeze at the table while the family dog devours the spaghetti, rewarding anyone who keeps watching.
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