Explain foreign dialect in TV commercials

[The Gaijin]

Originally Posted by robert_snyder

Milt,

British WTF?

...

What about British accented storm troopers and Imperial types in Star Wars? Where did that come from??

[Zeke]

I would venture to say the lizard is Aussie and not Cockney. I could be wrong, but I wrote a paper on this stuff in college some 40 years ago. I even recited a Kipling poem in Cockney ("Tommy"). I hear other tones in the lizard. I know one thing, never accuse a Brit of having a down under accent.

I can tell a Canadian a mile away with their oot/ out pronunciation. Aussies have some similar give aways and are smoother, not so clipped. I have been wrong many times.

edit: I'll tell you who's Liverpool/ Cockney. John, Paul, Geo. and Ringo. It's a different ring.

[Sonic dB]

Actually, its a little known fact that the Geico Lizard and Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist for Spinal Tap are from the same region of the UK. Check it out:

[Jamie79SC]

Milt,

The little bugger is NOT Australian. He's a working class Londoner.

You can't be serious wondering about why. Every Brit friend I've ever had here in the States has had to beat the girls off with a stick. By and large, Americans adore British accents. Friends seem to trust the least trustworthy of my mates based on the way they speak.

[Zeke]

I can't tell the difference now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoRCX8LIYc

I swear I can almost hear the gecko saying, "G'dye, mite." Where's Lisa when we need her?

[futuresoptions]

While we are on the subject of commercials, have you seen the new alergy medication called Astelin. I do not know if it works or not but my ass's tellin me that is the most stupid name for a medicine they could have thought of......

[Aerkuld]

I can assure you that the Geico Gecko is a Brit and that is a 'sort-of' cockney accent. There was some explaination somewhere, possibly an interview with the ad creators, where they were explaining how they came up with the accent. If I recall, the very first ad with the Gecko had him with a very upper class English accent but they changed it to a more working class accent to be more appealing.

However, there is a down side. You can't even imagine the number of people who come up to you and tell you "You sound like the Geico Gecko!" when you do have an English accent.

As for that stupid wasp, I have never been able to work out what a wasp has to do with seasonal allegies.

[Zeke]

I defer to you guys and your superior knowledge of dialect. I really thought the lizard has an Aussie accent, but I'm overruled. I'll have to catch up with my old friend Rod Millen (or his brother Steve) and listen in to the New Zealand speak (similar to Australian) once again.

[Paul K]

Yes, the lizard-thing is definitely English, from London. But I am not convinced the drummer chap and the lizard-thing have the same voice. And going back to the old lawyer guy in the tax ads, I think he's American, trying the 'Frazier' style voice. I was born and raised in the UK, but am frequently accused of being Australian. If you ever hear someone from Liverpool (NW England) talking, it sounds like a mixture between a drunk hyena and some cats fighting. Not good at all...

(Warning, contains foul language)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QtG13xqAP2I

Cheers,

Paul.