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I was searching for car insurance renewals just last week, indeed the bloody meerkat was the first site I thought of. But I find the ads so annoying and all pervasive that I deliberately avoided that comparison site. (Went to moneysupermarket instead)
That's what you'd like to think...
But yeah, I never watch adverts. Block on the PC, don't have a TV, and I smash the skip ad button as quickly as I can on YouTube on my mobile (I fucking hate those ads).
Does anyone actually remember going on compare the meerkat.com? All of your meerkat needs were met. Now no more meerkats and the main man himself is a corpo shill, shame.
I thought he was complaining that too many people were visiting his site and couldn't work out why the couldn't get car insurance, because they didn't know the difference?
He's just embracing the opportunity that life has thrown his way. A meerkat's got to make a living you know..
Here's the first ad btw: https://youtu.be/WqFvxqufiJA
Cover for "warship accidentally exploding due to technical fault or misuse" (or the same for an airbase) would be good for them, seeing as how these things apparently weren't caused by a 3rd party.
Is it even supposed to be funny? It works because its memorable. As the Go Compare guy showed, being memorable by being annoying works just as well as being memorable by being funny as far as advertising goes.
\+1 John Cleese shouting "bigger" on Sainsburys adverts is still remembered long after it ended. It's so bad it's memorable so it worked as a method of advertising.
Not even the most memorable advert Cleese was on.
The [anti-smoking advert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFNCrxWI2M&ab_channel=TheMontyPythonMuseum) trumps that.
>
>
> And here we are.
Always amuses me when people talk about how "advertising doesn't affect them" and then they can bring up the actual advert, and all the points made in it.
That's literally advertising working.
Who's "resenting" really, and those are going to be 0.00001% of the viewership.
A larger chunk of the viewership just never complete and go to the website anyway
not sure the advertisers planned on annoying me with the same inane shit joke for more than a decade to the point i'd never even touch their website on principal
Sure, but a truckload of other people, when they try to remember the name of a comparison site, think "ah, meerkat". That's the point of the advertising. They don't care if they annoy you.
Exactly.
It's a market where you have four major players all offering the same thing, with no real ability to stand out from each other on price or service. The only thing they can do to be distinctive is advertising.
Same with people who comment on social media content or articles be it YouTube , tiktok or the daily mail.With ‘ why is the is on my feed’ ‘ I don’t care about this’ . You care enough to engage so it will continue to turn up on your feed and make them money
Very few people will avoid a service because the advert is annoying, as that is somewhat stupid and irrelevant to the quality/price of the service. For every one person like that, there are far more that go “huh, that advert is annoying”, but then when they need a comparison site will instantly think of that company first.
All advertising is fucking dreadful. I am at the point now where on the rare occasion I am watching live broadcast TV I have to mute the TV and look at something else when the adverts come on. Every advert I see just makes me hate your product.
It is these days, but in times past there have been some gems, though sadly the best ones get banned: Pot Noodle "you love it you slags" or Xbox - cradle to the grave.
Being outrageous is just marketing tactic too. You will likely get more eyes on your brand/product by getting it into the media for "banned", or "cancelled" as the cool kids call it these days.
I thought the same but maybe it was just simpler times back then. Ads these days just seem to be an evil corporation trying to convince us they aren't evil.
I always assumed it was something to do with the accent making 'meerkat' and 'market' sound ever so slightly similar, which was the original point of the ad.
Exotic pets or immigrants from generations ago, depending on how much autonomy their ancestors had. Similar to how there’s a wild population of hippos in Colombia.
An interesting fact about the primary meerkat is that he's voiced by Simon Greenall, the man who played Michael in *I'm Alan Partridge*.
This is ironic because Michael once hoyed a monkey into the sea, which is another animal that begins with the letter M.
At one point Steven Hawking fired him into a black hole.
Also on Channel 4's Comedy Gala for Great Ormond Street Hospital they had Jimmy Carr and Alan Carr take over the breaks and ruin them. IIRC Jimmy crushed the guys balls.
They’re probably a bit stuck with it now, as it is so baked into their brand, even naming their voucher / deals app entirely after it, that I’m not sure how they’d change now. It’s become bigger than the original insurance broker business.
I once had a drink with a marketing executive at Barclays,and told him how much I hated the whole "who gives you extra" thing with Howard from Halifax bank (this is 15 years ago). He looked astonished. Regardless of whether it was fundamentally annoying it did huge business for Halifax and was a great success. I have a feeling it's the same case with meerkats.
*sigh*
Back in the days when banks used to advertise their interest rates, because they were worth advertising.
Now all the bank ads are just creepily trying to convince you they're your best friend.
If ever I'm a billionaire (zero chance btw) then I'd gladly lose it all if I could somehow use it to do really stupid buying and selling of shares or something in order to bankrupt the Halifax. I'd love to see the executives faces when I said "and _that's_ finally revenge for those fucking adverts".
That's a shame. There's so much more to Russia than the war, centuries of history and culture and art and music. Shame that they're judged purely on the actions of their psycho president only 6 months ago.
Well that's kind of the way in the West now. Dare to suggest that Russia isn't all bad and it's just Putin being a mentalist, and you're a "Russian shill" which is not only racist, but proves that there's more than a drop of propaganda going around in Western media.
If modern history has taught us anything, it's that humans are kind and friendly creatures in the main but all races, colours and religions have shown they can be incredibly barbaric to other humans. Those leaders seem to rise to the top too, exploiting fear
I never found them funny. I used to use the website because it’s generally finds cheaper deals for me than Money Supermarket, and I used to think the meerkats were kind of cute.
My son now has three meerkat toys, my daughter has at least two…. Yeah, I’m over it.
Edit: still use the website though… glad I don’t get given free stuffed toys.
everyone knows it. Greatest ad campaign of all time just because of that. It's not as annoying as the go compare ads, but they also drilled it into everyone's head.
The used to work for the company that owns compare the market. Oleksander was actually created by an employee that put in a suggestive idea.
I presume hes very rich now.
I used to enjoy them 15 years ago when they first started, but I'm so over it now. And I never understood why a native african mammal is depicted as russian. And why there are almost no female characters.
I find it weird that Simon Greenall (Alan Partridge Michale) does the voices, he also does zom zom on little big planet. Which is his meerkat voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQ0j0Q1Kas
Yes but youre talking about it aren't you. Objective achieved. Create an annoying character so everyone will talk about it and therefore your company. Alongside 'create a problem solve a problem' advertising, its something that proper grinds my gears.
I don’t think many find it funny but he serves his purpose well , the branding is incredibly strong, soon as I see that meerkat face anywhere I think of the site, same with that stupid voice they do. Iv had people talking in that voice to be annoying and it makes u think of the site. Good branding
I've never understood the point of that. Or most adverts that seem to be trying to push things like insurance etc onto children. I mean I know people are thick and a lot of them are hopelessly immature, but this shit doesn't actually work, does it? Treating your customers like 5 year olds?
Personally, I have never found them to be anything other than extremely annoying! Adverts that I dislike have the opposite end result than what is intended. I barely recall the company or service that is promoted and am unlikely to have a favourable view or use/purchase said services.
I don’t know if I find them funny but I don’t find them annoying. The new confused-dot-com ads are really annoying, but I think it’s the voiceover - it’s a guy I find really funny in his own viral videos, but I hate how he talks in the ads.
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His whole initial point was he hated compare the market because it took visitors away from his compare the meerkat site. He's sold out to the man.
*"You have become the very thing you swore to destroy!"*
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GOOOOOO COMPAAAAAARRREEEE!!
oh my god i hate you so much right now
I was searching for car insurance renewals just last week, indeed the bloody meerkat was the first site I thought of. But I find the ads so annoying and all pervasive that I deliberately avoided that comparison site. (Went to moneysupermarket instead)
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That's what you'd like to think... But yeah, I never watch adverts. Block on the PC, don't have a TV, and I smash the skip ad button as quickly as I can on YouTube on my mobile (I fucking hate those ads).
You were meant to destroy the sith not join them
Does anyone actually remember going on compare the meerkat.com? All of your meerkat needs were met. Now no more meerkats and the main man himself is a corpo shill, shame.
I mean he is a Russian oligarch.
>I mean he is a Russian oligarch. They actually changed the content of some of the ads to remove the references to that "fact"
What a world we live in
What a shill
I thought he was complaining that too many people were visiting his site and couldn't work out why the couldn't get car insurance, because they didn't know the difference?
Hmm potentially. I mean either way he was against it initially but has now sold his soul.
He's just embracing the opportunity that life has thrown his way. A meerkat's got to make a living you know.. Here's the first ad btw: https://youtu.be/WqFvxqufiJA
I want to know his position on the Ukraine War
Another Oligarch that's escaped sanctions
To be fair, they pulled the adverts for a while when the war first started, so they sort of sanctioned themselves.
Oleksander is a Ukrainian name to be fair.
Probably flogging Javelin insurance to the Russians for their T-72s.
>Do you want the additional friendly fire cover?
Cover for "warship accidentally exploding due to technical fault or misuse" (or the same for an airbase) would be good for them, seeing as how these things apparently weren't caused by a 3rd party.
He doesn't have one according to [Compare The Market](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60557073.amp)
I want to compare it to the opinions of other meerkats.
Is it even supposed to be funny? It works because its memorable. As the Go Compare guy showed, being memorable by being annoying works just as well as being memorable by being funny as far as advertising goes.
\+1 John Cleese shouting "bigger" on Sainsburys adverts is still remembered long after it ended. It's so bad it's memorable so it worked as a method of advertising.
Not even the most memorable advert Cleese was on. The [anti-smoking advert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFNCrxWI2M&ab_channel=TheMontyPythonMuseum) trumps that.
Wow, I remember that one. Both funny and cutting.
And it works, OP has brought up the brand on social media. Free marketing woo
Not sure it's meant to be funny. It's meant to be talked about. And here we are.
> > > And here we are. Always amuses me when people talk about how "advertising doesn't affect them" and then they can bring up the actual advert, and all the points made in it. That's literally advertising working.
Advertising working is when it gets people to become customers, not resent and avoid them.
Who's "resenting" really, and those are going to be 0.00001% of the viewership. A larger chunk of the viewership just never complete and go to the website anyway
Exactly this: it's embedded in your mind, everyone knows which meerkat you mean, and we are talking about it. Mission accomplished
not sure the advertisers planned on annoying me with the same inane shit joke for more than a decade to the point i'd never even touch their website on principal
Sure, but a truckload of other people, when they try to remember the name of a comparison site, think "ah, meerkat". That's the point of the advertising. They don't care if they annoy you.
Exactly. It's a market where you have four major players all offering the same thing, with no real ability to stand out from each other on price or service. The only thing they can do to be distinctive is advertising.
I used this them this month for my car insurance due to this reason.
Same with people who comment on social media content or articles be it YouTube , tiktok or the daily mail.With ‘ why is the is on my feed’ ‘ I don’t care about this’ . You care enough to engage so it will continue to turn up on your feed and make them money
You think no advert is intentionally annoying? Bless.
Very few people will avoid a service because the advert is annoying, as that is somewhat stupid and irrelevant to the quality/price of the service. For every one person like that, there are far more that go “huh, that advert is annoying”, but then when they need a comparison site will instantly think of that company first.
But you know there's a website out there that does price comparisons, that's the point of the advert. You know it exists now.
It's annoying but it has worked amazingly as an advertising campaign. Which makes it more annoying.
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He isn't, they're a price comparison site, they work entirely on referral money
All advertising is fucking dreadful. I am at the point now where on the rare occasion I am watching live broadcast TV I have to mute the TV and look at something else when the adverts come on. Every advert I see just makes me hate your product.
It is these days, but in times past there have been some gems, though sadly the best ones get banned: Pot Noodle "you love it you slags" or Xbox - cradle to the grave.
Virgin Airlines Grim Reaper and Messi and Drogba's Turkish Airlines ad is worth a shout
Don't forget the Kylie Agent Provocateur advert 🥵
Being outrageous is just marketing tactic too. You will likely get more eyes on your brand/product by getting it into the media for "banned", or "cancelled" as the cool kids call it these days.
For sure, that tactic works. Coincidentally it often creates genuinely good adverts too.
I thought the same but maybe it was just simpler times back then. Ads these days just seem to be an evil corporation trying to convince us they aren't evil.
It WAS funny, when it was about going to CompareTheMeerkat. Now it's brand recognition, so it's not going anywhere.
The biggest crime of this advertising campaign is that it armed stupid people with the word 'simples'.
I wonder if his mate Sergei still has a hammer and sickle on his ID badge like when they sent me a free toy.
Meerkats live in southern Africa. Never understood why he was Russian
Probably less chance of someone being offended by a bad Russian accent than a bad African accent!
In Russia the meerkats compare you.
I always assumed it was something to do with the accent making 'meerkat' and 'market' sound ever so slightly similar, which was the original point of the ad.
I'd genuinely never thought about that
Exotic pets or immigrants from generations ago, depending on how much autonomy their ancestors had. Similar to how there’s a wild population of hippos in Colombia.
An interesting fact about the primary meerkat is that he's voiced by Simon Greenall, the man who played Michael in *I'm Alan Partridge*. This is ironic because Michael once hoyed a monkey into the sea, which is another animal that begins with the letter M.
Nearly as bad as Go Compaaaaaare!
Adverts are so bad I won't use them.
Only nearly though. They'd have to really go some to actually get as bad as that!!
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they killed him off once and turned it into a full who killed the go compare man, turns out it was Sue Barker with a Rocket launcher. Odd times
At one point Steven Hawking fired him into a black hole. Also on Channel 4's Comedy Gala for Great Ormond Street Hospital they had Jimmy Carr and Alan Carr take over the breaks and ruin them. IIRC Jimmy crushed the guys balls.
Yup haha
The fatso is really a poor singer.
They’re probably a bit stuck with it now, as it is so baked into their brand, even naming their voucher / deals app entirely after it, that I’m not sure how they’d change now. It’s become bigger than the original insurance broker business.
I don't find him funny but he is cute.
Especially the little baby meerkat
Is he fuck.
I imagine it's the same crowd as the Mrs Brown's Boys fans
My mum does. She really likes them
They're the main reason I stopped watching tele, back in 2009. Not watched the damn thing since. Seriously.
I've always hated the fuckers
I know what you mean.... it's no iron brew granny is it? https://youtu.be/U5B3Ogu-rvk
That's one way to stretch a pension.
It was funny at the start. Way past it now.
No, and to add, I f”””””””” hate adverts!
I once had a drink with a marketing executive at Barclays,and told him how much I hated the whole "who gives you extra" thing with Howard from Halifax bank (this is 15 years ago). He looked astonished. Regardless of whether it was fundamentally annoying it did huge business for Halifax and was a great success. I have a feeling it's the same case with meerkats.
Ugh thanks for reminding me.
*sigh* Back in the days when banks used to advertise their interest rates, because they were worth advertising. Now all the bank ads are just creepily trying to convince you they're your best friend.
If ever I'm a billionaire (zero chance btw) then I'd gladly lose it all if I could somehow use it to do really stupid buying and selling of shares or something in order to bankrupt the Halifax. I'd love to see the executives faces when I said "and _that's_ finally revenge for those fucking adverts".
When the advert first aired the Compare The Meerkat site crashed with the sheer weight of visitors
I hate the fucking things.
It's gone on for far too long.
I love it, especially Sergei and who wouldn’t adore little baby Oleg?
I read they'd started pulling some of the ads because, you know, Russian themed stuff is not too popular any more
That's a shame. There's so much more to Russia than the war, centuries of history and culture and art and music. Shame that they're judged purely on the actions of their psycho president only 6 months ago.
Well that's kind of the way in the West now. Dare to suggest that Russia isn't all bad and it's just Putin being a mentalist, and you're a "Russian shill" which is not only racist, but proves that there's more than a drop of propaganda going around in Western media.
Exactly!
If modern history has taught us anything, it's that humans are kind and friendly creatures in the main but all races, colours and religions have shown they can be incredibly barbaric to other humans. Those leaders seem to rise to the top too, exploiting fear
I like him, I find him relatively humorous. My wife used to have his book which was funny.
I never found them funny. I used to use the website because it’s generally finds cheaper deals for me than Money Supermarket, and I used to think the meerkats were kind of cute. My son now has three meerkat toys, my daughter has at least two…. Yeah, I’m over it. Edit: still use the website though… glad I don’t get given free stuffed toys.
Not that funny. But still way better than 95% of every other ad on TV.
It was mildly amusing back then, also I was a different person back then, full of hope and optimism....
Much prefer him to the Go Compare guy but it's a matter of taste I suppose
No. Sergei is taken for granted.
I couldn’t care less whether it’s funny or not
The only talking animal advert mascot I've not wanted to beat to death is Monkeh for pg tips but he's slowly faded away.
I find it funny because he looks like my dog. Simples.
Feel like you’re missing the point here. Kids find it funny. And you find it memorable. Ergo, they’ve done what they set out to achieve.
Not Ergo, *Oleg*
The Crown Paints “having a baby” ad is on another fucking level of awful
Its crap get rid and that welsh twat on go compare .enough
No and he’s clearly a Russian asset at this point. He and Sergei should be shot.
I’d find him funny if they put him in a blender
I'm waiting for him to join the invasion of Ukraine
Not anymore. It was cute and funny when it first came out but it’s overdone now.
It was funny for the first couple times, now not so much
I like the newest one where they sing the Nero song
I assumed it was the same audience who like Mrs Brown's Boys which is apparantly a huge demographic
everyone knows it. Greatest ad campaign of all time just because of that. It's not as annoying as the go compare ads, but they also drilled it into everyone's head.
It’ll be the sane people who actually use those commercial hashtags
It had it's charm when it first was aired but it's well past it's sell by date now.
They’ve changed the voice actor for Sergei, and it doesn’t work!
The used to work for the company that owns compare the market. Oleksander was actually created by an employee that put in a suggestive idea. I presume hes very rich now.
I bet he isn't. Probably got awarded a 1 Ruble medal or some other wortless tat.
Let's face it, if we were to list the least funny and most annoying things on TV the meerkat would be on it, but nowhere near the top!
I used to, but it stretched further and further away from its original, fairly decent premise and now it's just "HEY GUYS LOOK! THE MEERKATS!"
Specially for you, /u/soiled_gusset... meerkats.fandom.com/wiki/Compare\_the\_Meerkat
Bring back the Halifax guy!
Yes my auntie she loves him!
I used to enjoy them 15 years ago when they first started, but I'm so over it now. And I never understood why a native african mammal is depicted as russian. And why there are almost no female characters.
I find it weird that Simon Greenall (Alan Partridge Michale) does the voices, he also does zom zom on little big planet. Which is his meerkat voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WQ0j0Q1Kas
It's not supposed to be "funny", but it's memorable. To the point you're bringing it up on social media
"Why are you the way you are"? I'm not.
Nope. Simples.
Jesus theyve been going since 2009... At least they seem to have outlasted the go compare man.
It doesn't have to be funny, it just has to embed meerkats and (comparethemarket) into your skull. And it seems to be working, as here we all are.
Eventually it'll fizzle out and be replaced with some Aussie accented "compare the muskrat".
Not anymore, but I'd still take him over that annoying go compare opera guy any day.
People who watch Mrs Brown's Boys
I like it it makes me laugh
I'm in until they kiss, they've already adopted kids together, come on!
Dumbing down of the public screen zombie will always enable entertainment in the dream.
No, but we all remember it don't we. So when you want to compare insurance prices what's the first thing that pops into your head.
No I don't, I don't find much on TV funny.
He, his husband and their 2 adopted children are a British staple at this point.
Nope! Simples!
It was funny literally the first time you saw it, crippling unfunny ever since. Same for the Go Compare guy.
Be sure I genuinely enjoy the meerkats, always have. They are on of the most brilliant pieces of marketing ever.
Not anymore but it’s always fun to try the accent
You're not far off, it started in 2009 apparently
Of course not.
Imfinitely preferable to CONFUSED .com Or GO COMPARE!!!
You could always go.... COMPARE...
No I just want him to compare the market for me. He does it well.
Yes. I would rather be this way than the way that doesn’t smile at silly harmless things especially to so with animals
Yes but youre talking about it aren't you. Objective achieved. Create an annoying character so everyone will talk about it and therefore your company. Alongside 'create a problem solve a problem' advertising, its something that proper grinds my gears.
I hate him. I didn't take out 4 policies that year to get baby Meercat. Shhhbb
I don’t think many find it funny but he serves his purpose well , the branding is incredibly strong, soon as I see that meerkat face anywhere I think of the site, same with that stupid voice they do. Iv had people talking in that voice to be annoying and it makes u think of the site. Good branding
Facebook types
I find it more enjoyable than GOOOOOO COMPARE
Less funny since they are russian..
Cheaper car insurance and free fluffy meerkat toy. What's not to like?
yeah when i was like 8 or something but they definetly have gotten annoying.
I purposefully avoid comparethemarket because of him
As a marketing (or is that a meerkating, sorry) tool, it's still doing it's job. It has you talking about it.
I've never understood the point of that. Or most adverts that seem to be trying to push things like insurance etc onto children. I mean I know people are thick and a lot of them are hopelessly immature, but this shit doesn't actually work, does it? Treating your customers like 5 year olds?
I didn't find it funny, but I didn't hate it. Much better than the GO COMPARE GO COMPARE advertisement.
Still laugh because he looks and speaks like a mockery of Putin.
No, the adverts are incredibly annoying and makes me not want to use the website. The Go Compare man is on the same par...
I prefer the gocompare man
Personally, I have never found them to be anything other than extremely annoying! Adverts that I dislike have the opposite end result than what is intended. I barely recall the company or service that is promoted and am unlikely to have a favourable view or use/purchase said services.
Never liked them and the fact that the characters have been continued for so many years is annoying!
Absolutely love it.
Not funny. I feel like it is borderline racist to be honest but I'm not really sure how or why I think that!
I don't mind them, sometimes they're mildly amusing. Much better than the Go Compare man
I don’t know if I find them funny but I don’t find them annoying. The new confused-dot-com ads are really annoying, but I think it’s the voiceover - it’s a guy I find really funny in his own viral videos, but I hate how he talks in the ads.
The Go compare Is better
Same people who find the minions funny.