Who Are The Rappers In The Geico Dessert Commercial?
Geico changed the game when it came to what a company could do for an insurance commercial. Things started off simple enough, with a talking gecko trying to sell people policies, and it only took off from there. Soon you had Sleeping Beauty and cavemen getting into the mix, with the latter becoming popular enough to warrant their own television series. The show flopped hard, but it's still impressive it even got to that stage in the first place.
Other insurance agencies soon followed suit, with Allstate giving us Mayhem to illustrate how property damage can occur at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Progressive has seen great success with its Dr. Rick commercials depicting why it isn't always a good thing when you start turning into your parents, but you should still have a good insurance policy regardless.
Still, Geico remains the king of silly insurance commercials, and things have only gotten more absurd over time. Their latest ad spot finds a woman in her kitchen learning that she can save hundreds of dollars by switching to Geico. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well, things only get stranger from there, with the introduction of a legendary hip hop duo who show the woman how to make a delicious dessert. While the name of the duo may not be familiar to you, their most popular song is recognizable to pretty much every single person on the planet.
Tag Team appears in the newest Geico commercial to show you how to make a tasty dessert
After the requisite "Geico can save you money" ad copy, things quickly turn hilarious when the announcer than asks, "So what are you waiting for? Hip hop group Tag Team to help you plan dessert?" As you could then surmise, DC the Brain Supreme and Steve Rolln of the 1990s duo Tag Team pop up on cue to perform an ice cream-themed parody of their hit song, "Whoomp! (There It Is)" affectionately called "Scoop (There It Is)."
It seems no birthday, wedding, or bar mitzvah is complete without "Whoomp! (There It Is)" making an appearance on the playlist. It's the kind of song that perfectly encapsulates the kind of family-friendly hip hop that went mainstream in the early '90s, and it continues to be beloved by new generations to this day, in part thanks to appearances in movies like D2: The Mighty Ducks and Elf.
Tag Team may have turned into a one-hit wonder from the song, but they're probably not beating themselves up too much. A report in Smithsonian Magazine reveals that the rappers make up to $70,000 a year each in royalties from this tune alone, and when it gets used in something like a Geico ad, the cash register noise in their heads only gets louder.
Following the release of their debut album, the pair had one more record in them with 1995's Audio Entertainment, but the LP didn't have the same kind of hit single they enjoyed the first time around. However, when you knock it out of the park the first time around, you don't need a sequel. By the looks of this Geico dessert commercial, Tag Team's still having fun with their famous hit.
Dueling Whoomps
This Geico commercial is just the latest event in the long history of "Whoomp! (There It Is)" — but did you know that there may well be an alternate timeline with a whole different set of rappers serving up that ice cream?
As chronicled by People Magazine in 1993, the song has its roots in a catchphrase that gained popularity in Atlanta dance clubs before spreading to Chicago Bulls games and eventually catching on with the nation at large. The saying was so popular, in fact, that there was some disagreement over which version was proper – some said "whoomp," while others pronounced it "whoot." Hip hop group 95 South even released their own hit single titled "Whoot, There It Is" — one month before Tag Team dropped "Whoomp!"
The dueling groups remained good-natured in their rivalry, which came to a head when talk show host Arsenio Hall invited 95 South and Tag Team to face off live on his stage. Viewers called in via a paid phone line to vote for their preferred jam, with proceeds going to flood relief. The surprising part, looking back, is that 95 South and "Whoot" actually won the contest. But nearly three decades later, with this Geico ad fresh in our minds, we have a feeling we know exactly which group is actually whoomping all the way to the bank.