Instead of going with the typical "Even a kid can do it" they chose a caveman.

But is it fair to portray [real] discrimination in a cartoonish/lighthearted setting?

I missed this when it was first posted. I can't disagree strongly enough. These are getting more and more mean-spirited in the way they make fun of kill-joys like me who have legitimate complaints. It minimizes complaints and is the equivalent to saying, "why so serious? It's all in fun!" Sadness...

The first ads were incredibly bad - saying that it's okay to mock people as long as they're not in the room, if you're in a position of authority over them, even if you're just the majority in the room. Most bizarrely I heard some people describe the situations as 'funny' even as they admitted that they would be the first to scream for blood if you made a small change and said Geico "is so easy that even a blonde can do it" or "so easy that even a black guy can do it." Many people didn't get that trying to pick and choose and say that behavior is acceptable for some groups is saying that, ultimately, that behavior will be acceptable for any group as circumstances change.

Geico got enough of a backlash to soften the ads, so that's good...

... but that also knocks out the context in the most recent ads. They just come across as thin-skinned jerks. Not quite a full circle, but it's getting questionable again. Again, reframe it as, e.g., being amused because a black man is offended even though there hasn't been a KKK cross-burning in over a decade. He should just lighten up! No pun intended!

IMO the only thing they can do is kill the ad campaign. Maybe they could have played it better earlier, but now they're in too deep.

BTW "cave men" is also trivializing the very real skills required to survive before we became the dominant species. Those skills are different than what we need today, but they are very real. I'm an eagle scout and doubt I would last more than a few weeks without access to modern goods such as sturdy woven clothing and leather boots, steel blades, etc.

Up until recently, I thought these caveman commercials were very humorous. (But I should mention that I don't watch much commercial TV, period, so I probably haven't seen them all.)

However, if Mac Mintaka and Richard are talking about the current ad in the bowling alley, I agree with them completely... There seems to be a real hurt intended to certain ethnic and/or racial groups.. I was very troubled by it..

This commercial really seems like a devious, sneaky, and ultimately, an even evil way to denigrate, marginalize, discredit, and undermine people that have endured long-standing prejudice and injustices, and of course, they have very legitimate grievances. Shameful in this day and age.. It reminds me somewhat of the dirty and very misleading political arguments practiced by Carl Rove, and his ilk during the previous two administrations here in the U.S.