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Odds are you have seen the Geico Gekko on television at least once in the last 24 hours.  If not, it may have been Flo the Progressive Insurance lady.  Geico introduced the Gekko in 2000 and began to spend then-unheard-of amounts of money on television advertising.  Since then it has become an “arms race” between the major insurers to capture the imagination … and the business … of American drivers.  Character-based and humorous commercials are used to catch the viewer’s attention and often become part of the popular culture.  With insurance ad spending estimated at $903 million for Geico, followed by Allstate, State Farm and Progressive, the stakes are huge.  Remember this the next time you see 3 or 4 different car insurance commercials all in the span of a half-hour television program.