Last week, as I was driving home from a book store, I heard a GEICO commercial on the radio, "GEICO has more staying power than a romance novel cover model".
Oh, GEICO, you don't know romance readers!
GEICO is an acronym for Government Employees Insurance Company. It spends millions on advertising; many of its commercials are humorous and somewhat irrelevent to car insurance. GEICO was founded by Leo Goodwin after working for USAA, an insurance company founded by (and for) military officers. Goodwin applied USAA's business model to GEICO, thus demonstrating the military's staying power.
GEICO is an acronym for Government Employees Insurance Company. It spends millions on advertising; many of its commercials are humorous and somewhat irrelevent to car insurance. GEICO was founded by Leo Goodwin after working for USAA, an insurance company founded by (and for) military officers. Goodwin applied USAA's business model to GEICO, thus demonstrating the military's staying power.
GEICO may poke fun of romance cover models ... yet military heroes dominate them. In fact, several reservists are cover models, including Jeremy R. He attended the SOS America Military Tribute last year at the RT Booklovers Convention. Jeremy is currently deployed to Djibouti, Africa. Thank you, Jeremy, for your service!
Image by Kimberly Rocha
GEICO has employed several spokesmen in its advertising campaigns, including Maxwell the Pig. He's confident in what he can do with GEICO apps, even as he vacations on the beach. Romanceland has its own Maxwell - Cathy Maxwell, the beloved author of historical romance from Avon Books. What's not to admire about an author who believes "loving well is the greatest adventure of all." Cathy penned 31 novels and contributed to five anthologies - now that's staying power. Most of her cover models are heroines ... perhaps the heroines are inspired by Cathy's can do atttitude. Did I mention that Cathy is a Navy veteran? Thank you, Cathy, for your service!
One of my favorite GEICO commercials features a camel wandering through an office asking, "What day is it? Hump day!" I've never ridden a camel ... but romance author Diana Cosby reenlisted in the Navy atop a dromedary! Ultimately, Diana retired as a Navy Chief and I share chief humor,
Real Chiefs believe that in the Navy every day is a holiday, every meal is a feast, every payday is a lottery and every muster is a family reunion.
How's that for staying power? In her second career, Diana penned 9 medieval romance novels with more to come. Thank you, Diana, for your service!
Book 32 is available May 31, 2016
One of my favorite GEICO commercials features a camel wandering through an office asking, "What day is it? Hump day!" I've never ridden a camel ... but romance author Diana Cosby reenlisted in the Navy atop a dromedary! Ultimately, Diana retired as a Navy Chief and I share chief humor,
Real Chiefs believe that in the Navy every day is a holiday, every meal is a feast, every payday is a lottery and every muster is a family reunion.
How's that for staying power? In her second career, Diana penned 9 medieval romance novels with more to come. Thank you, Diana, for your service!
Diana Cosby, left, reenlists in Tangiers
I hum along to the GEICO's commercial with New York hip hop duo, Salt-N-Pepa, singing "Push It" to the businessman in the elevator, the pregnant couple at Lamaze class, and the exasperated dad mowing his yard. Romanceland has its own "push it" duo - Kimberly R. (right, below) and Janet R. (left). Kimberly is the founder of Book Obsessed Chicks blog, book club, and annual BBQ (link). Janet is a dedicated reader who has never met a romance conference she didn't love. Together, they are an enthusiastic pair who have recommended so many keepers to me. They have also faithfully supported military families through SOS America. Thanks, Kimberly and Janet, for your infectious smiles!
Do you have a favorite GEICO commercial? Or a favorite cover model? One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, January 30, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 31.
Mahalo,
Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City
I don't know what GEICO is.
ReplyDeleteNo favorite cover models, but I drool after the gorgeous gowns.
I too have no idea what Geico is... As for covermodels, there are simply so many beautiful dresses or military uniforms to pick from. I do favor the historical romance novels though and the "old fashioned" outfits.
ReplyDeleteGeico is an insurance company that has a gecko as a spokes'person'. (Government Employees Insurance Company) I always laugh at him getting the fast food delivery, but all of the commercials are very creative!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you tied all of that together, Kim, nice job!
I don't have a favorite GEICO commercial but I have seen some. Just haven't payed much attention to them. I don't really know any names of the cover models but I know I really enjoy the ones Jaci Burton uses for her Play-by-Play series
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite Geico commercial but I think they're all pretty cute :)
ReplyDeleteThe Spy one.....where the good guy is fighting off the bad guys and his mom calls to complain about the squirrels in the attic.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any favorite Geico commercials but they are cute. I'm not a "cover" person so no favorites there either.
ReplyDeleteOh I love this, Kim. Those are great stories. Thank you for bringing so many people and their backgrounds to the attention of all of us. I'm always amazed who and how much you know! And I totally love seeing my pink New Recruit shirts in the background with your picture of Jeremy!!
ReplyDeleteGecko commercials do make you smile. I like them all. Likewise I enjoy all cover models.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I have a favorite cover model. The GEICO commercials are funny. My kids love them especially the gecko lizard.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with any cover models' name. But would vote for Jeremy, can see why he was chosen. Some of them really do not fit the picture I have in my mind of what the characters look like. Thank you for your service, Jeremy.
ReplyDeleteKaren T.
As a Navy veteran I can assure you that romances often took me away from duty and gave me a sense of normalcy in a screwed up world.
ReplyDelete:) Kim, my sincere thanks for your mention. Romance readers are AMAZING and have more staying power than any single ad. Take care, and I hope you're able to stay hunkered down in this weather!
ReplyDelete*Hugs*
Diana
Thanks for the interesting post! I finally made it to Kim Rocha's BOC book club! Yay! My very favorite cover model is Paul Marron! Love him!
ReplyDeleteI tend not to watch TV except for a very few that are recorded. So I skip them when watching. So unfortunately, I don't have much experience watching them.
ReplyDeleteLike Danielle, I, too, love the spy one where he's being chased and his mother calls about the squirrels in the attic.
ReplyDeleteIt was great meeting Jeremy, a hero who inspires heroes.
Love, Janet and Kimberly! Looking forward to seeing them at conferences this year. I'm also looking forward to helping out with the SOS Military Tribute at RT again this April!
Thank you for the insight and background on such wonderful authors, and the info on GEICO.
Hope we get to meet up some time this year. Have a great day!
You sure do have a way with words, Kim! I chuckled a lot reading this latest post of yours. Staying power indeed and the "push-it" duo. Ha! My hubby have been GEICO subscribers for 20 years now. They've been excellent in service and price. In any event, I like their gecko lizard commercials, just about all of them. I must say, even if you don't like their insurance, their advertiser sure has a flair for advertising. :-) jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI mostly skip though the adverts when I'm watching something. I do have to say that the Geico adverts that I've seen are cute.
ReplyDeleteI love GEICO and their gecko lizard and I pretty much enjoy all their commercials lol... that lizard just cracks me up haha
ReplyDeleteI love GEICO and their gecko lizard and I pretty much enjoy all their commercials lol... that lizard just cracks me up haha
ReplyDeleteThey have some of the best commercials ever and I really don't think there are any I haven't liked. I learned something though - I had no idea that's what it stood for!!
ReplyDeleteI know I've seen GEICO ads, but I don't remember any of the ones mentioned - I'll have to try to pay more attention - I often do something else when the commercials come on.
ReplyDeleteI love the Geico Gecko. He's small, cute and funny. I like the one where he's at a wedding and one of the women in the wedding party tries to flirt with him and he says, "Oh dear." lol
ReplyDeleteBeing a British we don't have those commercials. One of my favourite cover models is Brendan Charles
ReplyDeleteno to either question
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that GEICO and USAA were related in that way! And unfortunately at the moment I can't recall any GEICO commercials, but I did have the honor of meeting the head of USAA once upon a time and was able to thank him personally for a great company in and of itself.
ReplyDeleteAnd what an amazing post. Loved this. Thank you!
My favorite Geico commercial is the traveling chicken one. I tend to avoid watching commercials, but I love that chicken traveling around.
ReplyDeleteLove your segues in this post, Kim! I don't have favorite cover model - I can appreciate all of them, but Jeremy and others who serve deserve special notice! As far as GEICO commercials go, I do like the ones with the gecko.
ReplyDeleteway too many faves of both really.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the GEICO gecko commercials. Paul Marron on the cover of Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward is one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteAny cover model is yummy! The Geico commercial I like is the one where they are in a factory and there's a goat holding up the line. They try to calm it down and then it makes a high-pitched noise. Then one of the workers starts taking off her gloves to get ready to fight it! LOL! I hope that is the Geico one and not a different insurance company!
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever post! Ha! I love when you connect events and people like this, so fun.
ReplyDeletePaul Marron is one of my faves for cover model. I love the cover of Kiss of Steel.
I don't watch many commercials, I tend to get up and do other things so I'm not to familiar with the Geico commercials. I also don't really know any cover models by their names but I enjoy the ones that grace athletic covers. Or half-naked historicals lol
ReplyDeleteI enjoy most of the GEICO commercials, no real favorite. I attended the SOS America Military Tribute in Dallas and sat to the right of where Jeremy R was standing. I didn't realize he was also a cover model.
ReplyDeleteAll of those commercials are THE BEST!
ReplyDelete