Paul Peregord

9/28/2010

Conor Shaw-Draves

English 1020 004

Vehicular Mayhem

Insurance is an unavoidable part of our lives. We need insurance for medical practices, dental work, to own a home, and to drive a car. We get it to secure our belongings, families, and even body parts. In order for an insurance company to bring in new customers, they have to make advertisements that appeal to their audience, give them credibility about what they are selling, and give a clear message that is informative and gives reasons. Their advertisements would also have to appeal in a rhetoric sense, they would have to appeal to a persons emotions, logical thought process, or Allstate would have to make themselves appear knowledgeable about insurance. Allstate Insurance recently started airing a series of commercials that present a man in a suit, usually beat up, representing Mayhem. Allstate has this man deliberately wrecking peoples cars whilst he represents a hot babe jogging, a puppy, a teenaged girl, and other damaging scenarios and things. By showing us quite possible cases of cars being damaged and getting into wrecks, Allstate pulls our attention. They try and persuade us by making us laugh as a person does something that would definitely hurt them and saying, we'll protect you against these kind of things.

Insurance companies would likely have a particularly difficult job of targeting their audience. Considering that every person, young and old, male and female, wealthy and poor alike, is a potential customer. In order to reach such a broad spectrum of persons, the message being presented would have to be universal. Allstate does this effectively by running these series of commercials. Each commercial is about 15-20 seconds long and shows a different car, in a different situation, getting damaged in a different way. In one commercial, Mayhem says he is the puppy that ate your back seat after he coughs up a cockamamie amount of cushion. This in particular would appeal to dog owners. Puppies chew stuff up. Just like children, when they are teething, chewing or gumming on something relieves some of the pain. A person with a puppy would reason that a puppy could more than likely eat up a cushioned seat. Allstate makes a logical and emotional persuasion by insinuating that other insurance companies won't cover damages like this. Another commercial shows Mayhem driving a large SUV. He says he is a disgruntled teenager and just got a text message who's subject causes him to swerve, hit, and spin another car. Mayhem's/the teenager's car keeps going and he drives away. Teenagers are everywhere, and almost all of them have a phone. Texting and driving has become such an issue that you can be given a $100 ticket for engaging in the two actions at the same time. As Mayhem drives away, he asks if your insurance would cover something like this, and says you'll be picking up the bill if it doesn't. This is easily a universal message as it doesn't target anybody in specific. It in itself is an example of how bad things can happen to anyone at anytime. By airing commercials that appeal to every audience Allstate does a good job of targeting their audience. After each commercial you gain a better understanding of what kind of damage Allstate insurance will cover, there by increasing their credibility in the field of auto insurance.

Building your ethos to the point of persuasion in a twenty second commercial is certainly a challenge. Allstate does this very well at the end of each commercial with simple questions. Mayhem is wearing sweat bands and carrying hand weights, he says he's a hot babe jogging. You're in the car with a driver who's eyeballing this hot babe. Not paying attention to the road, the driver runs right into a street light and it falls over on his car. Mayhem then asks you if you're protected from an accident like this. Without even saying what Allstate will do for you in a situation like this, Mayhem's question tries to make you assume that your current auto insurance provider will not cover all the damages, but Allstate will. Allstate implies it is now a company that covers more kinds of damages has just built their ethos by a small scale. You're on a dark road surrounded by woods with Mayhem, he says he's a wild deer. He jumps out on the road, stops like a deer in the headlights and gets nailed by a car. You go to a close up of Mayhem laying on the ground, laughing. A company that recognizes there are hundreds of ways your car can be damaged has a better understanding about their product and what it has to “do”. Showing us that Allstate knows there is a plethora of damages awaiting our vehicles and that Allstate will protect us from these, builds their ethos and makes their message even more clear after every commercial.

The message Allstate tries to present is that other insurance companies won't protect you like Allstate will. They never make the claim directly but rather allow the viewer to come to their own conclusions. Every commercial is an example of this message, or their argument. You find Mayhem in a tree, he says he's a random wind storm. He jumps up and when he lands the branch breaks and falls right on top of a car while Mayhem comes to an abrupt stop on top of the branch. When he gets up he asks if your insurance covers this. This sort of damage usually isn't covered by auto insurance. Allstate presents the clear message in this commercial that they will cover the costs of repair for an accident like this. Scratches, buffs, nicks, and small dents aren't usually covered either. In one commercial, Mayhem says he is the key against the door of you car. You then watch as a key gets scrapped along the side of a car, leaving a very deep scratch. All of Allstate's commercials show things that other insurance companies don't cover, or don't cover 100 percent. By showing us that Mayhem is everywhere, can strike at any time, and can cause limitless types of damage to your car, Allstate reinforces it's message that it covers damages that others don't.

Insurance being an universal expense, needs to target an extensive audience. Every person regardless of age, sex, location, or race is a target. Allstate has to be careful not to exclude any type of person, while still appealing to specific groups and does this well with this series of commercials. Showing different cars, in different situations, getting damaged in different ways is a good way of targeting different people. Trying to reach a larger audience by showing variety and proving that they have a firm understanding of what their product needs to do. Almost every commercial ends with Mayhem asking if your insurance will cover these damages. Simply implying that Allstate will cover all of these miss-happenings, builds their credibility or ethos. Authority in your subject is a strong tool. Allstate tries to show they have an all-encompassing knowledge of how cars get damaged, by showing a different damaging scenario in each commercial, and by implying that they will cover your car better than any other provider could. Their message is short and to the point in each and every commercial. Mayhem is everywhere and can get you at at any time, and if you're not prepared for it or your current provider doesn't cover everything, you'll have to pay. Why not put yourself in good hands now?