In Allstate’s latest advertising campaign – staring the character of “Mayhem”, portrayed by the always-hilarious Dean Winters – we have seen a kind of trend forming. Lately, many advertisements and marketing ideas don’t seem to really focus all that much on their product, but rather on connecting with viewers – most often through comedy.

It seems the things that one would guess to be most boring- things such as selling insurance – have become a platform for hilarious new commercial campaigns in an effort to rope in viewers with wit and good humor. Humor has become integral to the pitch.

Think of the quirky and perky Progressive character “Flo”, or even the Geico gecko, cavemen, and now their rowing guinea pigs.  I’m not sure what rowing guinea pigs have to do with insurance, but it’s definitely keeping me interested.

I have to admit, I can’t get enough of those goofy and often times hilarious Allstate “Mayhem” spots – its gotten to the point where I’ll be past forwarding on my DVR prerecorded show and I will actually stop when I see Dean Winters because I just know hilarity will ensue.  There are very few advertisements that I enjoy enough to play them by choice, but I must say, I’ve actually found myself seeking these commercials out and even watching them on YouTube when I need a laugh.

Allstate is one of the leading insurance agencies, and so it seems, if you win over the public with witty commercials and advertising, they see your company in a more favorable light and are more willing to listen to what you have to say.  Allstate’s “Mayhem” campaign is the quintessential example of this because they draw viewers in with clever writing and a fantastic character actor, and then keep those same viewers engaged while still sending them the message that Allstate wants them to get – basically, switch to Allstate and you will be protected from Mayhem.

There is a lesson here: Allstate and their “Mayhem” campaign, along with many other top insurance companies that have employed the use of comedy to sell their product, connect with their viewers through funny scenarios and their characters while also showing you why you should choose their company – rather than trying to cram viewers’ heads full of statistics and facts about how the company can benefit them.  Maybe to do an effective job at marketing to your audience, all you really need to do is make them laugh a little (and of course having a good, legitimate product always helps).

Everyone likes to laugh – why not make it a selling point?