Does Chief Justice Roberts, left, not know the Gecko?
Blawgletter skimmed the transcript of the oral argument yesterday in GEICO General Ins. Co. v. Edo in search of any mention of the GEICO Gecko, who speaks with an Aussie/New Zeelander accent. None appeared. Chief Justice Roberts even asked at one point "[w]ho’s GEICO?" So much for cultural literacy.
For a quick summary of the issues in the case, go here.
Counsel for respondent Edo, Scott Shorr, did say something about a "red herring". But these fish, regardless of color, belong to a class (Actinopterygii) completely different from the Gecko’s (Reptilia) within the Vertebrata subphylum.
The GEICO Gecko had no comment.
Update: When asking "[w]ho’s GEICO?", the Chief Justice didn’t mean that he doesn’t know the company’s identity. He instead wanted to understand who, within the corporate structure, represented the true GEICO. We know the answer, of course. It rhymes with jecko.
