Geico and The Martin Agency have received a ton of praise since they debuted the “Unskippable ad” last year, enticing viewers to watch the brand’s pre-roll ads after the “skip ad” button pops up on YouTube. But where do you go from there? Well, how about finding a way to make the dreaded, actual unskippable pre-roll ad a bit more bearable?

A new series of Geico pre-roll spots might force viewers to sit through the full 15-seconds, but at least the brand “fast-forwards” through the middle parts. If viewers care enough to see how exactly you go from two hikers talking about Geico to being carried away by a giant eagle while playing the saxophone, they can click on the ad to see the full version (you can see both version of the “Hike” spot below, and more on Geico’s YouTube page)

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The ads don’t offer quite the same level of using-pre-roll-against-itself cleverness that last year’s campaign brought us (since they’re forcing the “no-skip” option and requiring a click-through to see the whole ad instead of just waiting past the “skip ad” button), we can’t blame them for trying to build on the positive reception last year’s campaign got while also getting away from everyone that has attempted to put their own spin on the concept.

Credits:

Brand: Geico
Agency: The Martin Agency