13:18 - GEICO Gecko vs. Michael Scott

[UMPIRE]

SEASON 13, ROUND 18

GEICO Gecko

Slot: The Team's Mascot
Season Wins: 3
Season Losses: 1
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about GEICO Gecko at Wikipedia
Official Site: GEICO

Michael Scott

Slot: The Team's Mascot
Season Wins: 2
Season Losses: 2
Fantasy Team Page
Read more about Michael Scott at Wikipedia
Official Site: NBC

Battle Terrain
Team Mascot Challenge: Umbrella Corp.

[Culwych1]

I really feel like being lazy and saying see all arguments from the Dig 'em Frog (which Michael won) and replace Frog with Gecko. 

Michael is the face of a worldwide TV series, and successful salesman and manager who has acted as the spokesperson of a company in their time of need (when literally their product was catching fire). He has the experience, the skills and the scenario to win,  and his opponent is a reptile.

[DSkillz]

We all know that the Geico Gecko has plenty of charisma and knows how to make a pitch. He's also much more well-known than Dig 'em, so obscurity shouldn't be an issue. 

Meanwhile, I keep hearing Michael regularly fumbles at his salesman jobs, of which much of The Office's humor derives from. 

[Culwych1]

52 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

We all know that the Geico Gecko has plenty of charisma and knows how to make a pitch. He's also much more well-known than Dig 'em, so obscurity shouldn't be an issue. 

Meanwhile, I keep hearing Michael regularly fumbles at his salesman jobs, of which much of The Office's humor derives from. 

Funny, I'd heard of the Frog (vaguely) but never Geico - but I'm probably the exception to this rule. 

Michael occasionally fumbles his manager role (although his team do love him in the end), but as a salesman he is unsurpassed. He frequently lands the best clients and deals. And key to this; he has this exact experience - of successfully being the fave of a company who made mistakes, and loved every second of it.

But more importantly, Umbrella, who have just unleashed a series of absolute catastrophes which included rampaging monsters, are not going to want to just unleash a Gecko to try and cover the whole thing up. At most it will be insufficient, at worst it'll remind people of the monsters that they unleashed.

[DSkillz]

15 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

Funny, I'd heard of the Frog (vaguely) but never Geico - but I'm probably the exception to this rule.

GEICO literally delivers insurance in over 30 nations, including in the UK. Not to mention that at least 5 different GEICO ads air on TV on any given day (and the Gecko is in at least two of those ads at any given time). 

15 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

Michael occasionally fumbles his manager role (although his team do love him in the end), but as a salesman he is unsurpassed. He frequently lands the best clients and deals. And key to this; he has this exact experience - of successfully being the fave of a company who made mistakes, and loved every second of it.

Ah, my bad. Michael's apparently a good salesman. Still, he's generally incompetent at the rest of his job, only works for a single branch in Scranton, and has been on the job for maybe over a decade?

Meanwhile, the Gecko's been the main spokesman at GEICO, one of the world's top 5 insurance companies, for 25 years, and the brand has experienced its highest highs since he came onboard. 

15 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

But more importantly, Umbrella, who have just unleashed a series of absolute catastrophes which included rampaging monsters, are not going to want to just unleash a Gecko to try and cover the whole thing up. At most it will be insufficient, at worst it'll remind people of the monsters that they unleashed.

As mentioned, the Gecko has more of a proven, worldwide rep of making sales than Michael, and is certainly more personable to everyone around him. 

Besides, Umbrella would surely want to employ a mascot as adorable as this one:  

 

[Culwych1]

4 hours ago, DSkillz said:

GEICO literally delivers insurance in over 30 nations, including in the UK. Not to mention that at least 5 different GEICO ads air on TV on any given day (and the Gecko is in at least two of those ads at any given time). 

Ah, my bad. Michael's apparently a good salesman. Still, he's generally incompetent at the rest of his job, only works for a single branch in Scranton, and has been on the job for maybe over a decade?

Meanwhile, the Gecko's been the main spokesman at GEICO, one of the world's top 5 insurance companies, for 25 years, and the brand has experienced its highest highs since he came onboard. 

As mentioned, the Gecko has more of a proven, worldwide rep of making sales than Michael, and is certainly more personable to everyone around him. 

Besides, Umbrella would surely want to employ a mascot as adorable as this one:  

I think people forget that in the Office world, the Office is an actual TV programme that is being aired all around world and that even has conventions. 

I couldn't find Geico in the top 20 list of largest insurance companies, but I'm not saying you aren't right there. But I did find that it has had at least 6 very public lawsuits against it - so there's definitely some controversy there. 

I think more importantly however... how long before this starts appearing everywhere if they did decide to go with the Gecko..

WATCH OUT FOLKS -THE GEICO LICKER COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU! SAY NO TO RACOON CITY 2.0

[DSkillz]

1 hour ago, Culwych1 said:

I think people forget that in the Office world, the Office is an actual TV programme that is being aired all around world and that even has conventions. 

And yet as of series' end, Michael never got better employment than manager of Scranton's Dunder Mifflin. 

1 hour ago, Culwych1 said:

I couldn't find Geico in the top 20 list of largest insurance companies, but I'm not saying you aren't right there. But I did find that it has had at least 6 very public lawsuits against it - so there's definitely some controversy there. 

Here you go. And my bad, it's no longer in the top 5; it's #2:  

10 Largest Auto Insurance Companies (February 2024) - ValuePenguin 

As you can see, despite the controversies, GEICO actually grew as a company. 

1 hour ago, Culwych1 said:

I think more importantly however... how long before this starts appearing everywhere if they did decide to go with the Gecko..

WATCH OUT FOLKS -THE GEICO LICKER COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU! SAY NO TO RACOON CITY 2.0

Umbrella would also have to look up Michael's unfortunate tenure as -- Prison Mike: 

 😛 

[Culwych1]

11 hours ago, DSkillz said:

And yet as of series' end, Michael never got better employment than manager of Scranton's Dunder Mifflin. 

Here you go. And my bad, it's no longer in the top 5; it's #2:  

10 Largest Auto Insurance Companies (February 2024) - ValuePenguin 

As you can see, despite the controversies, GEICO actually grew as a company. 

Umbrella would also have to look up Michael's unfortunate tenure as -- Prison Mike: 

 😛 

Ah auto insurance, I thought you'd said insurance. OK thats a bit more niche, but nonetheless impressive. I'll add to that a bit of Office trivia: "In 2020, seven years after it ended, The Office was the most streamed TV show in the U.S. Americans watched a combined 57 billion minutes (that’s more than 108,000 years) of the series." To reiterate, seven years after it ended - the most streamed show in the US. And the main character for most of that - Mr Michael G Scott.

Prison Mike is just one of the many amazing fun personas Michael has, but he also that that serious corporate approach when needed (again, such as when he accommplished this exact type of scenario).

 

[Pizzaguy2995]

In the past I have favored Michael in this scenario, however like DSkillz has said the GEICO Gecko is much more charismatic and experienced in company management then Dig ‘em so this match is definitely gonna be harder for me to judge. Much harder.

[DSkillz]

18 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

Ah auto insurance, I thought you'd said insurance. OK thats a bit more niche, but nonetheless impressive. I'll add to that a bit of Office trivia: "In 2020, seven years after it ended, The Office was the most streamed TV show in the U.S. Americans watched a combined 57 billion minutes (that’s more than 108,000 years) of the series." To reiterate, seven years after it ended - the most streamed show in the US. And the main character for most of that - Mr Michael G Scott.

Okay, now you're talking about how successful of a show the Office is in real life, not how successful in-show Michael actually was or even how popular the reality show covering his office's work was in-show. We all know that Michael never advanced further than manager at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, and we also likely have no idea what type of ratings the documentary covering him raked in.

The Office takes place before the era of streaming kicked off in earnest, so in-show and in real life, you know what ads likely ran during commercial breaks and what insurance a lot its viewers used?  

[Culwych1]

47 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

Okay, now you're talking about how successful of a show the Office is in real life, not how successful in-show Michael actually was or even how popular the reality show covering his office's work was in-show. We all know that Michael never advanced further than manager at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, and we also likely have no idea what type of ratings the documentary covering him raked in.

The Office takes place before the era of streaming kicked off in earnest, so in-show and in real life, you know what ads likely ran during commercial breaks and what insurance a lot its viewers used?  

That's a fair point, in-world whilst we know it is a global phenomenon (as they show the various translations of the documentary), we don't explicitely see the ratings. 

But question mark on Geico - I'm not disputing your claims (and you may well be right), but I can see from the link that it's one of the biggest car insurers in the US, but can't see its international ranking. In the UK it doesn't seem to be in the top 10. As said, I don't recall it on TV here (but again, in the age of streaming I tend to avoid adds wherever possible).  I also can't find it in any EU rankings. 

So I'm wondering if it has as international a reach as the Office does - which we know aired in other countries and thereby making Michael Scott a more recognisable figure. 

 

 

[DSkillz]

22 hours ago, Culwych1 said:

But question mark on Geico - I'm not disputing your claims (and you may well be right), but I can see from the link that it's one of the biggest car insurers in the US, but can't see its international ranking. In the UK it doesn't seem to be in the top 10. As said, I don't recall it on TV here (but again, in the age of streaming I tend to avoid adds wherever possible).  I also can't find it in any EU rankings. 

According to Insurance Business, GEICO was the 3rd largest auto insurance company in the world in 2022. 

But we may be getting slightly off-track here. The fact is that the Gecko is a more proven commodity as an advertising mascot and icon. In and out of universe, Umbrella likely won't take Michael as seriously for repairing their brand, and in-universe may even be written off for being an internet celebrity. 

[Culwych1]

25 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

According to Insurance Business, GEICO was the 3rd largest auto insurance company in the world in 2022. 

But we may be getting slightly off-track here. The fact is that the Gecko is a more proven commodity as an advertising mascot and icon. In and out of universe, Umbrella likely won't take Michael as seriously for repairing their brand, and in-universe may even be written off for being an internet celebrity. 

Fair enough - but my point was simply that Gecko does not have the international recognition that Michael would have. And to top that, he is a human and a company man who has in the past happily been in this position. The ramifications of a gecko being a mascot during a disaster that involved lizard type monsters is pretty awful - and is one they'll want to avoid - where as a likeable human who touched the hearts of countless people (having the "love interest" character Jim in tears and saying what a great boss he was for example) is the perfect choice. And if he bumbles it, as the argument has been, then even better as they can drop him and show what a reformed company they are.  

[DSkillz]

At this point, we're both scrounging for the scant few members left possibly voting on this in the wee hours of the morning in U.S. time.  

5 minutes ago, Culwych1 said:

Fair enough - but my point was simply that Gecko does not have the international recognition that Michael would have. And to top that, he is a human and a company man who has in the past happily been in this position.

GEICO is still sold in over 30 countries, and the Gecko has arguably been even happier in his position than Michael, who eventually left to find contentment with a family. Umbrella may want someone that's more committed to sticking around, and in fact, Mike may not want to commit the time it would take away from his new family to take on such an arduous task. 

13 minutes ago, Culwych1 said:

The ramifications of a gecko being a mascot during a disaster that involved lizard type monsters is pretty awful - and is one they'll want to avoid - where as a likeable human who touched the hearts of countless people (having the "love interest" character Jim in tears and saying what a great boss he was for example) is the perfect choice.

On the other hand, the cuteness and unassuming self-depreciation and affability of the GEICO Gecko would show that not all reptiles are monsters as well as show that Umbrella has become a safer, friendlier pharmaceutical. Besides, in-universe, people may remember that Michael wasn't always as well-meaning and respectful to his co-workers, while the Gecko has always come off as his cute, unassuming, charismatic self. 

24 minutes ago, Culwych1 said:

And if he bumbles it, as the argument has been, then even better as they can drop him and show what a reformed company they are.  

At which point, they'll still be left trying to rehab their image away from their bio-terrorist past. 

Enter ... the Gecko. 

[Culwych1]

2 minutes ago, DSkillz said:

while the Gecko has always come off as his cute, unassuming, charismatic self. 

I thought I'd youtube a video or two of Gecko to familiarise myself - and the first or second video is him (perhaps inadvertently, perhaps not) stealing money from someone to buy some crisps/chips... its a bit late now so I'm not going to keep going with these videos, but it's funny that was one of the first ones I stumbled across. 

[UMPIRE]

Match Final Results

GEICO Gecko: 8
Michael Scott: 4