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Feb 25, 2013 3:19pm
The insurance company giant GEICO has used a gecko and a pig to promote its business, but its latest commercial has the advocacy group One Million Moms claiming the ad is not cute. The ad, the group claims, is offensive and promotes bestiality.
GEICO’s newest mascot is Maxwell, a talking pig who is the latest target of One Million Moms, a conservative organization that its website says targets the “trash in today’s media” that is aimed at children.
A new advertisement features Maxwell the GEICO pig on a date. (GEICO/YouTube)
A 30 second commercial released by GEICO has Maxwell in a topless convertible with a woman by his side. The car has just broken down, and Maxwell uses his mobile GEICO application to locate a tow truck. The woman seems frustrated that the tow truck will arrive so quickly, as she asks, “Oh, so that means we won’t be stuck up here for hours, with nothing to do?” The pig brushes off her advances.
Monica Cole, director of One Million Moms, says the commercial promotes bestiality.
“It was just a pretty sleazy type of commercial because the girl [in the commercial] was really disappointed when she realized they wouldn’t be able to pass the time alone together,” said Cole.
The One Million Moms’ website states that the organization’s goal is to stop the entertainment media’s exploitation of children.
“Kids are drawn to animals. That’s normal. Animals are cute. That’s why movies have animals that play the lead roles and the main parts,” said Cole. “And it may be over their heads in terms of understanding the meaning behind it, but there’s a big concern when kids are being desensitized to this kind of thing.”
Cole says this isn’t the first time GEICO hasn’t taken bestiality seriously. “A bridesmaid was flirting with the gecko in a different commercial, so this is just becoming a norm for GEICO it seems,” Cole said.
The website has thousands of online subscribers, a “team of moms,” as Cole describes them. When numerous complaints come in regarding a particular commercial, the organization will follow up on members’ concerns through research. Once that research is conducted, the organization takes action, she said.
“We let them [GEICO] know that our subscribers are concerned about the commercial and that we would like them to pull it immediately,” said Cole. ”We have thousands of moms contact them as well so there is strength in numbers.”
Although GEICO has yet to reach out to One Million Moms, Cole said they receive responses from companies regarding their complaints about half of the time.
GEICO did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
