Voice of Geico Axed After Insulting Tea Party Members
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 10:30AM
WViT in DC Douglas, FreedomWorks, Geico, Tea Parties

It's not every day that voiceovers get controversial, but it looks like we just might have a scandal on our hands with today's news. The voice of GEICO, Lance Baxter  better known as D.C. Douglas – was reportedly fired after leaving a heated voicemail for FreedomWorks, a conservative activism organization. Mr. Douglas claims that Tea Party members posted his message and phone number online, harassed him and pressured the auto insurance provider to terminate his contract. It's worth noting that Mr. Douglas is NOT the voice of the GEICO Gecko, but the announcer at the beginning and end of the "Real People" series of commercials. Watch/listen to one of his well-known spots (with the late, great Don LaFontaine) and the (mildly NSFW) voicemail (along with reactions from Tea Partiers) after the jump.

Mr. Douglas' can be heard at the beginning and end of the spot:

The voicemail (and reactions):

 You can read more about the chain of events on D.C.'s blog.

Article originally appeared on Whose Voice? (http://www.whosevoice.com/).
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