The same accent Michael Caine used in Alfie.
Not at all. Though the differences are glaringly obvious to me, I doubt that a regular Brit could tell a California accent from a Minnesota one from a New York one.
IMO, it’s Received Pronunciation with a London bias. She says “The Ricky Gervais…” in RP, then the word “show” has a definite London vowel, but then “on Guardian” reverts to RP, but the sibilant “t” sound in “Unlimited” sounds London again.
No, never been an Australian accent. Here’s a recent thread on subject.
“Geico Gecko - Six-inch green computer-animated lizard seen on a series of successful Geico Car Insurance commercials at the beginning of the Millennium. In the earlier commercials, pesky phone callers were confusing the Gecko’s phone book listing with the Geico Car Insurance Company. Speaking in a British accent (Dave Kelly), the irritated Gecko voiced his discontent with the intrusive consumers looking for cheaper insurance. Actor Kelsey Grammer supplied the original voice for the Geico Gecko in the first ad.”
Thanks for that last sentence: When the Geico commercials first aired, I thought he sounded a whole lot like Niles Crane (not Frazier)…then it switched to a more British accent. Now I know I wasn’t just imagining that, whatever Crane/Grammer tongue it was in.
One thing that bothers me about the Geico gecko is that (having had a pet gecko), they don’t utilise the wonderful Gecko feature of suction cup feet and climbing up walls. Have I missed a commercial featuring that? Poor earthbound Geico gecko. Prolly more difficult to animate, though.
Suction cup feet are really cool. But gecko feet are actually even cooler. Their feet are almost fractal, with a vast multitude of exceedingly tiny fibers. This very high surface area and very large number of contact points allows them to take advantage of van der Waals forces between their feet and the surface they’re climbing, forces which are usually only significant on a molecular scale.
Speaking of real geckos, can they really lick their own eyeballs?
Why do geckos lick their eyeballs?
…waaait for it…
Because they can.
The gecko feet are amazing, yep, really not suction cups, but lots of surface tension areas… more like ridges, neat to feel on your skin. Their tongues are amazing, too. Lightning quick, and snap up prey well. I imagine these are not the salient points the insurance industry wants to highlight, but mebbe future art directors for Geico can have some fun with it.
I actually thought he was starting to sound like the crazed roadie in Wayne’s World 2. Maybe its just me. I just picture the gecko saying “I had to beat him to death with his own shoe”. Perhaps I have too much time on my hands these days.
I sent an email to Geico ad execs just last week, asking them if they were trying to sell insurance in England, because I can’t understand a freaking word that gecko is saying.
They have yet to respond.
