Most people get frustrated when ads interrupt their favorite movies or TV shows. Sure, a lot of commercials are forgettable, but some manage to become legendary. Take Coca-Cola’s annual New Year’s ads, for example. People actually look forward to those every year because they capture the holiday spirit perfectly.
Another commercial that achieved legendary status is Geico’s ‘The Caveman,’ which first aired in 2004. It features a caveman and was designed to promote car insurance. The company reportedly poured around $600 million into advertising in 2006 alone, but ‘The Caveman’ was popular enough that the investment was well worth it. The creative force behind the campaign was The Martin Agency, which had been handling Geico’s ads for years. According to The New York Times, the agency always aimed to ‘wrap easy-way-to-save-money pitch in humor on the theory that laughter is almost as universal as lack of interest in car insurance.’
Creative director Steve Bassett admitted they believed the ad would do well, but nobody anticipated just how massive it would actually become.
The actor and producer behind the caveman character is John Lehr. His rough appearance, greasy hair, furrowed brow, and prehistoric features were all the result of heavy prosthetic makeup. In real life, Lehr is a strikingly good-looking man and a proud father of two.
His entertainment career was already underway before this commercial came along. It all started when Lehr, who was teaching at Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois, began doing improv performances at night. During one of those shows, a FOX scout noticed him and offered him a holding deal with NBC worth $15,000.
That moment changed everything and swung open the doors to Hollywood for him. He went on to appear in a single episode of the iconic sitcom Friends in 1996, and later starred in 22 episodes of Jesse alongside Christina Applegate. The two later reunited for the romantic comedy The Sweetest Thing.
In 2004, Lehr got the call to audition for ‘The Caveman,’ and he walked in with zero expectations. ‘I thought, Huh, okay. I didn’t think much about it. Went in, did it. They let me improvise,’ Lehr shared in an interview with Chicago Now. ‘I think that’s what got me the job. It was really fascinating and fun and paid my bills.’
Once he landed the role, Lehr’s caveman character took on a life of its own. Practically overnight, everyone was talking about the commercial.
‘It’s the perfect job for somebody like me, a character actor, because I make a lot of money on these commercials and nobody knows it’s me,’ he told Interviewing Hollywood.
‘It kind of fit with my sense of humor, in that it’s kind of, you play it for real but it’s totally absurd, which is basically my cup of tea. And it worked out.’
‘I’m stunned…I mean, it’s huge! My wife just recently googled GEICO caveman blogs, and it’s unbelievable,’ he added.
‘There’s a whole bunch of people out there who are fascinated with these commercials.’
The campaign launched Lehr’s career into an entirely different stratosphere. He even attended the Oscars, though not as himself. He showed up in full caveman costume.
‘They sent me to the Oscars in full makeup and cast a babe model to be my date on the Red Carpet,’ he recalled in a Forbes interview.
‘The funny thing was that all the stars wanted to take pictures with me. Gary Busey, John Voight, all of them. And this gorgeous actress comes up and starts hitting on me. I drop character and say, You realize I’m not really a caveman. I’m an actor with hair glued on, and I’m married. She goes, I don’t care. Let’s have sex.’
Today, Lehr runs his own production company called Howler Monkey Productions and splits his time between acting and producing.
Lehr is happily married to his wife Jennifer Lehr, and together they have a son and a daughter.
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