Entry #5: Allstate's Mayhem Bear

 

    Allstate has a series of humorous commercials that they use to advertise their different kinds of insurance labeled as "mayhem." This series shows a multitude of different accidents that would all be covered by some kind of insurance, most often using the same actor causing the accident, playing into the role of "mayhem." Today I'd like to focus on one of the commercials and explain how it's a good example of what all of these commercials are trying to achieve.

    The commercial titled "Mayhem Bear" begins with the main character in this series of ads walking through the woods, his face covered in the bandages and scrapes that are supposed to represent how he is "mayhem," consistently being the cause of or being hurt in accidents. He approached a car, explaining how he's meant to represent a hungry bear that had just come out of hibernation, ready to take some unsuspecting hikers' food from their car. He starts to shake and sniff the car, eventually tugging on and pulling the entire door car to get the door off to get to the food inside. Once he does, he rips open the cooler and starts digging into the food as if he were a bear, all while he explains that your regular cut-rate insurance wouldn't pay for an accident similar to what's being shown. After a small cut in the footage, he's outside of the van, taking a large swipe to take off one of the side-view mirrors as he approaches the camera, saying it would be better to switch to Allstate to be better protected from "mayhem like him."

    The symbolism in this ad is straightforward, saying that Allstate is a better insurance option for protection than other cut-rate options the viewer might have. The ad is humorous in how it uses a human to represent a bear breaking into some hikers' cars, possibly indicating that it's a somewhat ridiculous and unsuspecting situation to find yourself in, and one that some insurance companies won't cover because of that. Other ads in this series are similar in this way, showing how tiny mistakes can lead to unsuspecting damage to property, things that we overlook as regular humans. In this ad, the simple act of leaving the car window cracked open led to the bear finding the food, and the car was severely damaged as a result.

    Mistakes happen, and these ads are trying to show how Allstate understands that. They're trying to connect with us lightheartedly to show us that even if other insurance companies wouldn't cover any unsuspecting accidents or simple mistakes, Allstate would. With that, you can see how they're trying to influence the viewer, who is likely on a different insurance, to switch to Allstate because they would cover them better and protect them from mayhem.