Allstate Mayhem: What exactly should we be worried about?
The Allstate Mayhem campaign is aiming to catch both the price-sensitive and those who worry they might not be covered properly. This new round of commercials is meant to instill fear in the insured and make us question how well we are covered with our current provider. Read more about Allstate's Mayhem campaign and use our free tool to compare Allstate insurance rates against other local providers.
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Jeff Root
Licensed Insurance Agent
Jeff is a well-known speaker and expert in life insurance and financial planning. He has spoken at top insurance conferences around the U.S., including the InsuranceNewsNet Super Conference, the 8% Nation Insurance Wealth Conference, and the Digital Life Insurance Agent Mastermind. He has been featured and quoted in Nerdwallet, Bloomberg, Forbes, U.S. News & Money, USA Today, and other leading...
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UPDATED: Jan 8, 2024
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Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about life insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything life insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by life insurance experts.
UPDATED: Jan 8, 2024
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider. Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
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Well, if Allstate has their way, we should worry about everything unless they are our insurer.
Normally known as the “Good Hands People,” Allstate has switched gears with this campaign in an attempt to capture a larger market share by having both the “good hands” and “mayhem” campaigns run at the same time.
The goal is to catch both the price sensitive and those who worry they might not be covered properly if they are not insured with a company who has nationally televised commercials.
The recession forced many insurers to focus their advertising on premium price, as many Americans felt the squeeze and looked to save money in the family budget anywhere they could…often times looking to insurance as a means to save a buck.
This is the opposite of the usual (pre-recession) message of many national insurers who advertise on television and radio, which are normally priced higher than many lesser known insurers.
Companies like Allstate, State Farm and Farmers normally focus their advertising dollars on brand recognition and “selling” service, security and longevity, creating a sense of exclusivity associated with their company…
All of which are nice thoughts, but are swept to the side when the reality of insurance, paying a premium for liability and physical damage coverage, comes to the forefront of a tight budget.
What is Allstate Mayhem?
“Allstate Mayhem” is the insurance company’s most recent advertising campaign to hit the web and the airwaves.
This new round of commercials is meant to instill fear in the insured and make us question how well covered we are with a company that might not be nationally known or use its advertising dollars for television and radio commercials.
You may have seen the commercial where the “mayhem” character knocks a tree limb down onto a car during a windstorm. There are also commercials where the mayhem involves a distracted teenage girl, a downpour of snow, and a puppy chewing up the backseat of a car.
We are then asked to contemplate if we have coverage for that particular type of loss. If we are not sure, we need to contact an Allstate agent to make sure.
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What’s the reality of the situation?
As usual, the reality of the situation is much different than what a TV commercial might tell you.
Similar to a single paper towel soaking up a gallon of water in one swipe (while a disclaimer in tiny point font tells us it actually took 45 minutes for the water to soak up), Allstate is not necessarily being fair with the statement.
For the record, a tree limb falling on your car would be covered by comprehensive coverage on any auto insurance policy.
Comprehensive coverage is not sold exclusively by Allstate. In fact, you can purchase “comp,” also known as “other than collision” coverage, from almost every company who sells auto insurance.
Nevertheless, like Progressive’s Flo, the Mayhem guy, played by Dean Winters who you may recall as Liz Lemon’s boyfriend Dennis Duffy in the show 30 Rock, is tremendously popular with the public. (For more information, read our “The Progressive ‘Box’ Steals Flo’s Spotlight“).
The commercials, which began airing in 2010 during college bowl games, were instantly successful and disseminated widely on social media platforms.
What’s the bottom line?
Unless, in an attempt to save money on your auto insurance, you removed physical damage coverage from your policy when switching insurance companies, Allstate isn’t doing you any favors. If your current policy has “comp” and is still cheaper than Allstate, you don’t need to switch again (this is the part of the story the commercial leaves out).
For the record, you typically must carry full coverage on an auto insurance policy if you have a loan/lease out on the vehicle. Your lender, known as the loss payee, demands this coverage to insure their financial interest in the vehicle.
Of course, if you did remove coverage in an attempt to lower your insurance premium to fit a shrinking budget, it is highly recommended you add the coverage back to your policy as soon as you can afford to do so…with Allstate or any other company who offers you the best deal.
A savvy insurance consumer will make sure to compare coverage apples-to-apples between any two (or more) insurance companies before making a decision to purchase.
Be sure to contact a local independent insurance agent to ensure you have the coverage you need at the price you want. If that happens to be Allstate…great.
Read more: Top auto insurance companies.
(photo: erickilby)
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Jeff Root
Licensed Insurance Agent
Jeff is a well-known speaker and expert in life insurance and financial planning. He has spoken at top insurance conferences around the U.S., including the InsuranceNewsNet Super Conference, the 8% Nation Insurance Wealth Conference, and the Digital Life Insurance Agent Mastermind. He has been featured and quoted in Nerdwallet, Bloomberg, Forbes, U.S. News & Money, USA Today, and other leading...
Licensed Insurance Agent
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about life insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything life insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by life insurance experts.