apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Man I hate the word 'Metrosexual'. It's overused and missused almost as much as the word 'Emo'.

Perhaps the next trend will be Emo Metrosexual Cavemen!

Does Kolo work for Geico?

Sounds like it.

Can someone explain to me why this caveman idea in these commercials is smart/witty/funny, etc.? I don't watch a lot of TV so perhaps I'm missing the reference but I just don't get it. (I'm not saying this to be judgemental of those who like them, I'm just so puzzled each time I see one of these commercials).

the geico caveman commercials are my FAVORITE commercials (and i detest commercials and watch all my TV after it's recorded on DVR just to avoid them).

I think it's a clever, yet just so slightly uncomfortable, play on stereotypes/bigotry/racism.

The ads will never get me to be a Geico customer, but I like the smart (but dumb) ads.

I'd be curious to know who the actor is. Odd as it might be, he's really good. He's developed this personality.

I dislike these commercials but I'm enjoying this link to his apartment.

I need a new life.

All of Geico's ads rock! They are so absurd. The gecko, then gecko driving to work, then talking gecko, then gecko with a cockney accent. The cavemen are insane! It's ridiculous that cavemen still exist or that their brains could handle the sophisticate thinking of these guys. It's such a genius blow the PC movement!

Sounds like Kolo works for Geico.

I enjoyed the first few Geico Caveman commercials but it is getting a bit played out now. As for the website, it is great. I usually get bored with the interactive Flash sites but this was very well done.

I never really liked the cavemen ads, but this website has made me a fan. Perhaps I'm reading too far into it, but it makes you question what it means to be "sophisticated." They really nailed the stereotype of the chic, but lonely, urbanite. My favorite part is the doodle in the margin of Don Quixote.

aw, i love the gecko and caveman commercials! sometimes they actually make me laugh out loud. why do you have to accuse kolo of working for geico? the link doesn't even go to the geico webpage. looks like the actor's name is joe dyton. you can get the scoop on him if you click on the magazine in the living room.

Hi, No I don't work for geico--I'm not even a customer. I do however love all the geico ads. Some of you may remember the tiny house commercial, etc. The caveman ads as miss points out cleverly play with race issues and as a film/media professor, I've discussed them in my classes as they depict significant cultural issues in a humorous way. The reason I wrote to AT about the caveman's crib is that I understand the apartment actually belongs to someone on the camera crew. It seems that he & his wife gutted their condo & redesigned it & now it's being used as the caveman's crib! I agree with Mat that the term metrosexual is way too overused but there really is no other term to describe geico's cavemen (roast duck & mango salsa!, please! & what about the hair care products in the bathroom with highlighted directions--reminds me of American Psycho & Bateman's beauty regimen) So what does everyone think of the apartment? I wonder how much of it was staged to look more "metrosexual" & what actually belongs to the owner. I really like the bathroom and esp. the vanity sink. I do however find it just a tad too standard & typically metrosexual. Kolo

Pardone, it was Bale, not Bateman. Interesting posts.

i like the caveman's bob and the one where there's multiple cavemen sitting around being refined.
i will have to checkout the aprtment.

Kolo - I thought it was fun post and very entertaining. Is "metrosexual" overused or is the idea that everything is overused, mainstream, etc...well...overused. It's a cliche to point out cliches (which makes this post also...a cliche). I enjoyed the site.

Love the ads, too. And this just strikes me as an a great little bit of absurdity by some clever people at an ad agency who were lucky enough to be paid to run with a crazy idea.

Nice reminder that as awful as most advertising is, as much as it is screwing up most of our world, the best of it is the work of smart people we'd applaud in any other context.

The caveman is you! And THIS is YOUR LIFE!

Is that it?

Overused--there's definitely a school of thought that stresses that mainstream culture is fundamentally a cliche. We do after all live in a mass produced society, consume mass produced products, images, etc. circulated over and over again. I like to think I'm unique with my tastes, esp. my love for MCM furniture but I'd be fooling myself & can't deny that the noguchi table, case study daybed, or saarinen's tulip chairs aren't mainstream icons & that some here on AT have even declared them overused (at least the noguchi table). What's fascinating with the caveman campaign is the emotional reaction to the ad & how geico felt the need to create the caveman's crib, demonstrating that his feelings & tastes have touched a nerve even in our mass produced society. I really like how the cavemen ads play with real emotion (the cavemen's offense at the ad, so easy that even a caveman can do it) intertwined with mainstream cliches of metrosexuality, expensive taste, politically correctness, etc. Plus the ads (as all geico ads are) are just downright entertaining! Long live the cliche & I still think my noguchi table (itself a replica of a replica) is unique!

FYI, Jackie, Patrick Bateman was Christian Bale's character's name in American Psycho.

The caveman should get rid of all his stuff and just get himself a hot babe.

Is the caveman gay? Not that it matters. Just curious.

I figured out how to get thrown out of his party. Hint: it's in his bedroom off the kitchen.

Ok, back to the apartment - anyone know what kind/brand of stand for the flat panel that is?

The caveman is definitely not gay. He's just got no immunity from materialism.

He makes me laugh and I think he is a good actor...I bet he makes a movie soon!

Teak: how can you say the caveman is not gay? Not that he's real, of course, but what makes you so certain the character isn't gay? I think the balcony commercial suggests the possibility that he might, in fact, be gay.

If you listen to his voicemail or read his email, you'll find references to ex-girlfriends. I can't believe I'm speculating on the sexuality of the geico caveman, or for that matter, reading his email! Must...turn off...computer.....

I think his metrosexuality allows geico to target both gay & straight communities, esp. young professionals. His contemporary taste in design & his being a techie also stresses this.

I dont know. He might be gay. And I truly don't care and think its quite cool if he is. Yes, he has a crazy ex-girlfriend of friend, but his diary suggest that he might be gay. Whose Alex? this has nothing to do with his sexuality, but did you read the article about him in the magazine in his living room. He is suppose be this talented character actor. Oh lord, I can't believe I am really getting into this. This will definitely be a television sitcom or movie.

Methinks the caveman is mocking me and my lifestyle without me knowing it! And me likes it, yuk yuk yuk yuk, gagook gagook goonie goo goo.

cool. very cool.

Everybody refers to them as the Caveman, when in fact in the series of commercials there are 3 separate cavemen. In fact at least 2 live in the Caveman's crib.

I enjoyed poking around the Caveman's apartment. I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to wait for the party to start or what. I think I looked at everything though. I enjoyed looking through the emails, listening to the phone messages and listening to the music on his iPod. His apartment is very well put together. I wish I had his bedroom.

BTW, thanks to the Geico commercials, I am now a Royksopp fan.

Smart, Witty, Keeps you coming back for more, what's not to like.

This commercial is my favorite !!!!!! I love those guys !!!!
They should start a TV series !!

Love them .when i am down and i see one of the new caveman commercial ,i forget all the problems .

I love those cavemen commercials. They are funnier than hell. The cavemen are great assets to Geico.

The caveman crib is really cool.So you see not all of us are prehistoric.So easy a prehistoric caveman can do it would be more approve while.We modern day cavemen are being so freaking tired of being stereo typed as being stupid and unable to adapt.Yes,people I'm one too,I have a spiked club and am happy to say I never had to use it yet...Hmmm A caveman made that website and he,my brethern caveman is one intellegent SOB.Please leave me and my friends alone.Go pick on that evil little gicko,yes I spelled that incorrectly on purpose.I'm finished because we have a right to be oursevles with all the bs.Have a nice day.

Sure these are great ads. But do they really sell insurance?

This is the best thread of all time.

Does anyone know if there is a way to download the music from the i-pod?

The ads are racists; well, subtle/implicit racists. My african american son, will see this ad with all his friends, who happen to all be white. He is uncomfortable when his friends glance at him without saying anything. Think about it.

And, he's just as smart or smarter than his friends; but, isnt that also the joke in the ad?

Viper, in my opinion, thats absurd.

I'm a white male and these commercials didn't immediately make me suspiciously eye a different race. It may be a clever way to poke fun of bigotry, but certainly not bolster it.

Your son's white friends have made their decision to not let race be an issue for them. Sadly not everyone has come to the same conclusions for various reasons, but anyone sitting in that room watching TV has already made up their own decision on weather or not race is a major issue to them. I'm sure every person in that room has been exposed to prejudice before and they've long since decided whether its for them or not. Seeing a humorous commercial is not going to be a deciding factor here.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but in my opinion, you're feeding the trolls here. Laugh off or simply ignore the things that only very mildly perturb you, and nothing happens, nobody gets hurt. Raise a red flag and you're simply making the issue much bigger, knowingly and purposefully widening the gap. I'm not saying by any means that you should ever have to endure true racism, but when you infer racism towards your son from his white friends from something as innocuous as the geico caveman, I feel you're the one making it an issue.

Does a party actually start and if so how do u get it to start?

Somebody help: I love visiting the Caveman's Crib to see what the guys are up to. The last time I visited, August 14, the party was over and you were able to click on scenes from the night before. That was the last time I was able to get into the apartment! Now, everytime I try to pull up the website, all I get is the loading sequence -- which loads quickly to 98% and then stops. It gives no invitation to come inside and no way to enter. Has anyone else had this problem?? Have the cavemen changed their apartment locks or something?

And, Jeez, why do the cavemen have to be gay?? Why can't they just be guys with good taste, money and a great crib? The scenes at the party indicates a heterosexual bent. They're not even so much "metrosexual" as they are metro-male. Does anyone live in Manhattan? (FYI - the balcony scene was about the disappointment of one friend in the other friend's presumed disloyalty by going with Geico, despite its caveman slurs. There wasn't anything either "gay" or "straight" implied in it.) They probably work for Ogilvy and Mather or an architectural firm. Anyway, that's my take.

If you want a fast way out of the apartment, go into the bedroom behind the kitchen, wait til the caveman does his spiel on the clothes, then click on the carpet......Hilarious!!!!!!

You can find the Tv stand on www.tvstand.com they have the exact one from the site for just over $600 and have a full list of flat screens that are compatable