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August 1, 2006 - Have you seen the GEICO gecko? The premise of a series of GEICO commercials shot across the City - from Carroll Gardens to Prospect Park to 8th Avenue in Manhattan - is that the CEO of GEICO dresses up as the famous gecko to greet his customers on the street.
In the commercial sequence shot on 8th Avenue, in which the gecko greets New Yorkers, actual New Yorkers were approached on the street and agreed to serve as extras in the commercial. As the gecko makes his way through the city streets, numerous complications ensue, from a startled cab driver who flees believing the creature is an alien, to police horses which become so startled that they kick a hot dog cart into the air, causing it to land on the lawn of a park.
While the commercials take place in several cities, they were shot entirely in New York. The location manager on the shoot, Sasha Tsyrlin, said the beauty of shooting in the five boroughs was that “New York could double as a number of different cities, especially with the architectural design of many of the city's buildings.” For example, Tsyrlin selected Carroll Gardens to stand in for Georgetown and Dupont Circle in Washington D.C., and used Prospect Park to double for D.C.'s Rock Creek Park.
Interested in casting New York in your next production? Contact the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting at 212-489-6710.
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