However one feels about the verbing of nouns, Geico is hardly the first brand do it.
In 2013, gin ads appeared declaring “Tonight We Tanqueray.” Two years later, cable channel TCM bid its viewers “Let’s movie.” And in 2017, Sephora announced “Let’s Beauty Together.” (The U.K. has its own examples, including Ariel laundry detergent’s “Do you pod?” and Virgin Media’s “I can family.”)
Why do brands take such liberties with parts of speech? It’s not that marketing executives don’t know grammar. But they do know how to get attention, and marketing wisdom holds that deliberative errors in grammar or spelling are more likely to draw it.
And so, just like office workers have learned how to onboard, architect, and office, consumers—at least the ones shopping for insurance—will no doubt learn how to Geico.
