We feel for Ted. The guy has hail damage to his car, he’s doing the right thing by calling his insurance agent, and then he loses his attractive girlfriend to a pig. You might be saying, “well, it’s not just any pig. It’s Maxwell.” And the rest of the America would be saying, “the pig from from those Geico ads has a name?” To which I say, yes. But, you see, that’s how Geico swoops in with their anthropomorphic pig and ruins Ted’s life even though nobody remembers Ted by the end of the commercial.

These new Maxwell commercials from the Martin Agency are actually a step in the right direction for Geico. The company used up all of their gecko jokes about ten years ago, and since everybody who wants to save 15 percent or more on their car insurance is already doing so, focusing the recent spots on different advantages, like online claims, is subtly smart. Although, I’m not sure a pig’s hoof would be able to work the tablet touch screen.

As for Ted, well now he’s the guy who lost a girlfriend to a pig. Life is pretty much over after that. Why would a girlfriend break up with her boyfriend just because he was put on hold with an insurance company? Couldn’t she go inside and watch The View instead of waiting impatiently outside? Does she have a tablet fetish? Does she eat bacon? These are questions I want answered in upcoming Geico spots.

Credits after the jump.

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It’s rare we ever come across work from SF-based Heat that isn’t for some new game from Electronic Arts. But, considering Heat’s high level of consistency on these projects, especially for the EA Sports imprint, we really can’t imagine the agency working for any other brand, despite the fact that Heat counts AOL and the Huffington Post among its clients.

Sure, you can note the obvious similarities between this work and the decades-old “This is SportsCenter” campaign for ESPN. But, if you can take a formula that’s proven to capture the attention of sports fans and apply it to video games, why wouldn’t you?

A TV campaign for EA Sports’ newest game, NCAA Football 13, asks the question, “If you could put any Heisman Trophy winner in history on your favorite team, would you do it knowing that it would betray historic rivalries?” The dad in the above spot admits that, yes, having 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard returning kicks for Ohio State would be nice. But, Howard played for Michigan, Ohio State’s biggest rival. Therefore, this makes his son an awful traitor, and destroying his TV is just the beginning in this father eventually exiling his son to Ann Arbor for all eternity.

View credits, and watch what happens when Tim Tebow plays for Georgia and Robert Griffin III suits up for LSU after the jump.

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