GEICO

Started in 1936 in Texas by Leo and Lillian Goodwin as the Government Employees Insurance Company. The company began life in the middle of the Great Depression, and sold car insurance to federal government employees and military personnel.

The company hit one million policyholders in 1964, and the founders passed away in the early 1970s.

Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s investment firm, first began investing in GEICO in 1951, and he took full control of the company in 1996.

For many, the most recognisable features of the insurance company are its humourous ads and its mascot, Martin the Gecko. Martin made his debut in 1999 during the Screen Actors Guild strike, and was originally voiced by Kelsey Grammar.

The ad agency that created him, the Martin Agency, says that a gecko was chosen as GEICO was often mispronounced as gecko.

Source: GEICO