Entry #5: Mayhem

 

    Allstate is an insurance company and has been around since 1931. All of their commercials are known for using chaos and humor to influence their audience into buying their insurance. To be honest, its kind of hard remembering which insurance company is which (because there are so many) so here is the commercial I will be referencing.

CAT

    In the commercial you see Mayhem, he is the actor and the face of Allstate, and has been for the recent years. He is always seen in a suit and has a bandage over his temple, eye, or cheek, along with bruises on the rest of his face. His face reflects all of his characters and explains the name "Mayhem". He performs crazy stunts or characters that grabs the audience. He uses extreme measures and humor to keep people's attention. In this commercial he is acting like an annoying cat. 

    Allstate using Mayhem as a cat could not be more clever. The clientele of insurance companies are usually the older generation (Sorry boomers). Sometimes those people are lonely and buy a pet to keep them company, say a dog or even cat. In the commercial, he owns a collar with a bell and even has a food bowl with the name "Mayhem" engraved on it. By showing him as a cat, it appeals to the older generation because they are most likely the people to own a cat, or people who own cats in general. They can relate because they deal with cats and how chaotic and ruthless cats are.

Pets in general, are just messy. They run into things, break vases, chew on tables, and can even take a number 2 on your new, white couch. Using a cat in this commercial makes more sense than any other pet. Dogs for example are very sweet and loving, when that break something or chew on something, it is an accident. Cats on the other hand, are vicious and evil creatures. If you have owned a cat you know that they destroy your house. They are known for clawing couches, knock things over, and they can bring in birds or mice. Acting like a cat, he is showing the possibility of something like that happening in your home that could be covered by insurance, or Allstate. Therefore, he is showing the possibility of what having Allstate could do for you.

Something that you may have not noticed would be the woman in the commercial. She isn't the center of the commercial, but is very important. The very first clip, you see her sitting on the couch with Mayhem's head on her lap, holding a cell phone. She is unaware of the trouble he is causing because she is engrossed in her phone. While Mayhem is filling up the sink upstairs, she is sitting on her couch, phone in hand, and only looks up once the ceiling caves in, water spilling everywhere. Before, Mayhem is riding the woman's Roomba and she has her phone out recording him. This small detail shows how humanity is negligent to a bigger purpose. The woman was so entranced in her phone that she didn't realize the harm Mayhem, or society, was doing. She didn't pay attention to Mayhem, so he began wrecking her house. The woman represents humanity, Mayhem represents humanity when it turns destructive, and the house is the world. As the woman ignores Mayhem, the more destructive he becomes and therefore causes trouble.

Now don't get me wrong, this commercial was funny when I first watched it. It still is if you're watching it for the first time because of the mayhem, blunt humor, and escalation of scenes. Also having a grown man act as a cat is funny, but the ad is still trying to get people who own cats to buy insurance. It's a clever advertisement. They have many similar ads to this one, but they all have different themes, this one just stuck out to me.