How to Understand Car Insurance

If you're reading this blog with the intention of understanding car insurance once finished, you are going to be sadly disappointed. Misled by the title? Yeah, that’s how I feel when I watch any Geico advertisement. Here’s an advertisement of a variety I see more and more these days:

Remember watching this commercial and saying “You know, that commercial really sold Geico car insurance; I now understand why most people would find this product more useful than its competitors”? Yeah, I don’t remember saying it either. This commercial is a good example of what many commercials these days seem to do. It really plays up pathos and ethos, but it is quite scant indeed in the logos department. The pathos is obvious; while it may not be comedic gold, we all know some person that would find this commercial hilarious, and getting your funny bone tickled is pathos apealling to the emotion of happiness and to humor. The ethos is pretty blunt as well; that hairy cross-dressed individual makes it abundantly clear that he is speaking with an all-pro linebacker, Brian Orakpo, a star in what I assume is football. By including a character in the commercial that an average Joe may be familiar with or that he can admire, the product sells better. So where’s the logos? Sure, they mention that you COULD save 15% or more by switching to Geico, but how can you know if you qualify for such savings? Do they give you a statistic? Do you hear about their benefits? No. Geico commercials are notorious for cramming numerous characters, in-jokes, and nonsense into their various ad campaigns, but they are frequently lacking when it comes to facts. So this leads to my question: If Geico constantly airs advertisements like this one, why are they the third biggest car insurance company in the country? Don’t people want more facts about their insurance before signing up?