Geico Insurance has aired a number of different ad campaigns over the past 20 years or so. From “so easy a caveman could do it,” to the classic Gecko spokesperson. Towards the end of 2009, the popular insurance company began to air a series of commercials with rhetorical questions. On this day 11 years ago, this advertisement with Charlie Daniels hit the screen.
“Could switching to Geico really save you %15 or more on car insurance?” Mike McGlone says. He walks toward the camera and pauses. “Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?”
Charlie Daniels answers that question pretty well. In the next sequence, Charlie Daniels shreds the bow of a fiddle from playing so fast. A room full of people in black tie apparel stare as Daniels destroys the fiddle in his cowboy hat, boots, jeans and big belt buckle. He whispers, “that’s how you do it, son,” to the violinist as he hands him back the instrument and walks out. Daniels has no shame in grabbing someone’s drink and tossing it back on his way out.
Other commercials from that particular ad campaign feature celebrities and athletes like Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Randy Johnson. Some of them also recall previous Geico campaigns such as with the trademarked Caveman and Maxwell the Pig. This commercial campaign ended in 2012 and was replaced by another campaign.
Charlie Daniels Commercial Appearances
While the Geico was likely the funniest and most popular commercial Charlie Daniels appeared in, it was not the only one. Daniels also appeared in several other ad campaigns for different companies including American Cruise Lines, Skoal, and the National Rifle Association. His 2016 NRA commercial was also parodied by Stephen Colbert on his show, the Colbert Report.
