Mayhem is everywhere!

Have you met Mayhem? Many of us are all to familiar with Allstate's latest campaign featuring the sadistic perpetrator in situations which show the importance of investing in Allstate's insurance. When I first saw the ads, I thought they were hilarious (My personal favorite is Mayhem as the GPS). In my Research Methods in Advertising/PR class, we're doing a semester-long group research project on a different brand or company. My group chose to base our research question around Allstate's Mayhem campaign, asking whether or not humor is an effective tool in advertising.

We are going to create a survey which includes video links to ads from both the light-hearted, humorous Mayhem campaign, and the more serious "You're In Good Hands" Dennis Haysbert campaign. Following each ad, we will pose a series of questions meaning to gauge the memorable, informative, engaging, and convincing nature of the ads.

Allstate's latest Mayhem ad: super fan

Our group is going to start designing our survey soon and then we can finally start reeling in some data that will (hopefully) bring us a step closer to answering our research question.

I read an interesting article on the New York Times website that talked about Mayhem, and how Allstate has adopted the new strategy of creating a villain to portray the product (or in this case, company) as the hero. By doing this, Allstate is able to establish a positive brand image. Another thing I like about the Mayhem campaign is how they still include the Dennis Haysbert voiceover at the end of the ads, almost like they're tying the two campaigns together or maintaining some sort of congruity within their marketing.


This has definitely been an in-depth undertaking but I've definitely learned a lot about marketing research throughout the process. And what a process it has been. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product (and the finish line for that matter!)