I like this Geico ad featuring the band Europe playing their hit 1986 song: “The Final Countdown” accompanying a man in a work break room waiting as he heats up a burrito in a microwave. It’s cute. But I think it might be a good idea for Gecio to shelve this spot for a little while, seeing as how pyrotechnic sparklers like the ones used in this ad, used in a small space as seen here, were the cause of a deadly nightclub fire recently (Oct. 30, 2015) at the Colectiv in Bucharest, Romania, and the story is all over the news.
Now, obviously Geico is not referencing this incident, and this ad was made way before the Romanian nightclub fire, but seeing as how it could easily make us think of the fire, it might be in good taste to take it out of rotation for the time being. Also, there was an even deadlier club fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, at the Station nightclub in 2003 where twice as many people died from exactly the same cause: pyrotechnic sparklers igniting flammable sound foam inside a small venue, and people might think of that too. And if advertising makes you think of something negative, rather than the message they’re trying to send, maybe it’s not doing its job as well as it could.
(This ad already made me think of the Station nightclub fire, but then this Colectiv nightclub fire happened from the same cause: pyrotechnic sparklers in a small room, and when I saw this ad again after that, it just seemed a bit off color. Cute idea and everything, just lose the sparklers.)
If your ad’s joke reminds people of a tragic accident that recently happened, you pull it from rotation; it’s what you do. If you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to Geico; it’s what you do.
(You know, it seems like there ought to be someone working for the ad agency who would notice things like this and handle them so we won’t notice them.)
Here’s the pyrotechnic piece:
And here are the nightclub fires I’m referring to:
