Entry#5 Mayhem

  Allstate Insurance Company recently released their advertising commercial known as, “Mayhem”. This humorous and appealing commercial includes Dean Winters, also known as “Mayhem”, who acts as a bratty teenager driving in a pink SUV car. The trustworthy Allstate Insurance Company, founded in 1931, upholds their security by providing an example of a freak accident that could potentially happen. The commercial shows “Mayhem” hitting a parked car, and how Allstate is there to back up the owner of the hit car and let them know that they’re, “In Good Hands”. Allstate Insurance Company provokes humor within the scenes, overall advertising their well-known security, and credible aspects through their commercial, “Mayhem” to reach out to the parents of all teenage drivers. The humor within the commercial mainly appeals to the parents of teenagers or upcoming teen drivers. Dean Winters succeeds in the persona of a “typical” teenage girl driving in her pink car, distracted by her phone. It’s absurd enough to be memorable, which grabs viewers and allows them to recall Allstate Insurance Company.  An example of Allstate trying to appeal to people’s emotions, Pathos, is that they appeal to people’s sympathy. When viewers see all the wires being torn out from the walls and the hole in the roof, they know how big of a problem it would be. This shows that the commercial appeals to people’s sympathy in that they understand how big of a financial burden a raccoon in their attic would cause, especially if they didn’t have good insurance. Another example is when they use dark humor to appeal to viewers' emotions. When the lines “I’m digging, I’m nesting in this fluffy stuff” and “I’m the smartest raccoon I know” are said and acted out by a grown man it is sure to get a laugh out of most viewers. This shows that it may be funny to watch Dean Winters act like a raccoon in someone’s attic on T.V, but if a scenario like that were to really happen to someone, it would not be remotely funny anymore. As a result, the commercial is made more effective by the way Allstate uses Pathos and dark humor.