Allstate Mayhem Commercial Examples

Advertisers have years of experience in tricking the viewer to buy their product. Advertisements are built to appeal to your values and desires so that you are comfortable in spending money. A good example of a well-done advertisement is the “GPS Commercial | Allstate Mayhem” produced by Allstate and Leo Burnett Worldwide. The advertisement itself is fairly simple. It starts with a driver in a car. Mayhem, a personified GPS system, is sitting in the middle of the front seats facing the camera. He lets the audience know he is out of date, and starts misguiding the driver as a result. The last misguidance leads the driver the wrong way down a one-way street. After the accident, Mayhem and the Allstate announcer let you know you can avoid problems

Simply adding background music to a speaking part can change the mood based on what is playing. Music is powerful enough, that when used properly it can bring about change in a person’s emotions (Morris & Boone, 1998). This in turn can sometimes increase the sales of a product. With the case of the GPS Commercial | Allstate Mayhem, they employed a different tactic. They played no music until the very end of the advertisement. When they did, they played music that made you feel empowered and motivated. This was timed perfectly with Mayhem’s speaking point about switching to Allstate to attempt to create a change of thought in the viewer. The music itself lasted only ten seconds out of the thirty second advertisement, but it had a fairly big impact, as the entire piece was timed to the transitions taking place. The moment the drums first sounded was when Mayhem started to speak about Allstate and protection. Mayhem’s facial expressions and tone changed here as well to reflect the serious tone of this part of the advertisement. Once the low note of the wind instrument set in, his expressions changed back to what they were, and the Allstate announcer took over. The second time the wind instrument hits the note, the commercial

He looks overdressed, slightly beat up, and completely careless. His facial expressions remain unenthusiastic up until he misguides the driver. The moment he does, he gets a wide grin, and is seen laughing hysterically just before the collision. His actions and demeanor are meant to get people to laugh. People have a tendency to view misfortune as a funny thing when it is coupled with the surprise of the incident (Scharrer, Bergstrom, Paradise, & Ren, 2006, p. xx). When Mayhem gets into the wreck, instead of becoming serious, he enjoys himself. This changes the whole feel of that section of the commercial. Had he reacted as surprised and upset as the driver, the scene would have been completely different. This was done intentionally, as one of the main persuasion techniques is that of emotion. The most common of which is a positive emotion (Rosenau, 2012). Humor is used extensively in advertising. About one out of every four commercials have humor in them (Scharrer, Bergstrom, Paradise, & Ren, 2006, p, xx). Humor itself is used to break the ice with the audience, to get them more comfortable, and get them in a good mood. Humor is a positive feeling, that if linked with a particular commercial, can drive someone to think better about the product being sold (Scharrer, Bergstrom, Paradise, & Ren, 2006, p. xx). Due to Mayhem’s mischievous personality, this commercial was able to be far more