Following the success of the popular commercial spot featuring a team of crew team guinea pigs, US insurance company, GEICO, released an extended edition directly to YouTube today. The spot features an in depth review of the ideas laid out in the commercial; a man took several months to train his guinea pigs to power his home computer in an effort to save money.

Someone certainly did a good bit of research into guinea pigs. The quality is in the details. Pay close attention to the lounging pigs on the table and their response to what’s going on. As any guinea pig owner knows, the sound is very familiar. It’s simply darling to see this man’s level of determination in teaching a guinea pig to talk when the response is all wheeks and squeaks. Real guinea pigs are trainable but it takes a bit of patience and persistence.

As a computer animator myself, I would guess that a couple of seemingly normal guinea pigs are real while the stars are computer generated. Perhaps a bit of compositing was involved with the real guinea pigs because at times they appear to be at odd scales to one another. The real guinea pigs featured in this extended edition appear to be small and young. They’re lacking the graceful curves of adulthood that make the guinea pigs in the original commercial so endearing. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the making of these popular spots from the Visual Effects Company, Click 3X.

Don’t feel too bad for the pig that was “lost” before catching the joke. Last time he was seen, he was heading for the garage. This guinea pig didn’t pass away but left because he was sick of his rowing lessons. I’m sure many cavy owners who have cared for a particularly stubborn pig in their day can get a good laugh out of this one.

We won’t make any assumptions about this pensioner’s lifestyle from what we see in the frame because it is impossible to tell, but we’re hoping his store bought cage is simply one he keeps nearby for afternoon training and our crew team of pigs go home to a cage of adequate size the rest of the time. This man and his guinea pigs do not exist so it’s a moot point but from the modern guinea pig’s perspective, still worth mentioning.

However, the Super Pet “My First Home Complete Starter Kit” featured in the commercial is not well suited for guinea pig day to day living and we hope the fans of the GEICO guinea pigs don’t get any ideas. We happen to know a lot about this cage because we own the same cage and use it for travel because it can be packed flat and easily stored. It also came with poor quality food and guinea pig bedding with tiny particles that have been known to cause respiratory issues and sneezing in some pigs.

It’s possible that the folks over at GECIO didn’t know the finer points of modern guinea pig lifestyle. Perhaps they wanted the commercial to have a broader appeal so they went to the store and bought the most basic cage they could find in hopes of connecting with viewers. Whatever their reason, it’s a mild distraction from this generally adorable piece.

This extended edition release is an exciting addition from the GEICO creative team. Could we be seeing more guinea pigs in the future? We can only hope. Only time will tell.

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