Mayhem wants mommies’ attention
ED’S NOTE: The commentary here reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
Although I love the Mayhem product character, this 15-second Allstate (NASDAQ: ALL) ad is beyond irritating. Actor Dean Winters gets in touch with his inner child to become the toddler who shreds our nerves with every shriek, stopping only to take a quick sip from the sippy cup.
What’s surprising to me is that people seem to like this ad. The timestamp on YouTube says the ad was posted in April, but I had not seen it until it posted on Facebook about two weeks ago. For the past several days, it has been popping up in the right column of my Facebook page along with the slightly offensive and completely off-target ads.
At the time of this writing, the “Toddler” spot had 26,154 views on YouTube, including 229 likes and only one dislike. There were only six comments, none of which were coherent enough to note. On Mayhem’s Facebook page, which boasts 999,646 (up from 991,447 on July 16), the spot has generated 698 734 likes and 240 252 comments, including this one from one Facebook viewer:
This is totally my two 2-year-old son John down to every detail! It’s pretty accurate. It seems to be a tribute to him! Love it!
Mommy must have some good meds.
Agency: Leo Burnett, the folks that brought us product characters such as the Marlboro Man, Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam.
EARLIER: Mayhem in 2011: No black eye for Allstate
