Mini-Mayhem — Allstate’s Esurance Ads Too Quick for their Own Good

There was a time when insurance ads were not the best thing on TV. That was, perhaps, before technology brought us talking lizards. Now, though, the mayhem Allstate brings us is infinitely more entertaining than what it sponsors, especially when measured in half-minute increments.

Progressive’s Flo has a back story that easily outweighs any sitcom character. Farmers University is a competitor. The only thing wrong with State Farm’s pop-on agents is there aren’t enough spots for all the media they buy; even the entertaining woman trying to grab a dollar from a fishing line stinks after three months.

What’s puzzling in this mix is the ads for Esurance, the ones where people are so old-fashioned that they think posting photos on their wall means their living room wall. Esurance seems to be trying to position itself as the new, cool Geico.

They seem to be making the case that Geico is a waste of time at 15 minutes. You could be saving money and spending only 7. 5 minutes with Esurance. So, after the laughs die down, we’re left wondering, Really? Do they think there are people out there who care about seven minutes in buying insurance? Then, when we see that it’s really an Allstate ad, we wonder if we are paying too much for the Allstate insurance we got that wasn’t through Esurance.

Isn’t it terrible when a funny series of spots is betrayed by an idiotic strategy? I call that mini-mayhem.