Speaking of mayhem, lately I’ve been seeing an advertisement on television for insurance. The commercial personifies "mayhem" as tall, dark, and handsome. But not too handsome. There’s a malicious element to "mayhem’s" good looks which lets us—the faithful television viewers—know that he’s one of the bad guys.
The intent of the commercial is to alert the viewing public that mayhem can thrust his invidious face into anyone’s life at any time, thus thoroughly destroying any tranquility in our lives. Mayhem is responsible for all sorts of mishaps, calamities, and disasters. And mayhem delights in bringing catastrophes into unsuspecting lives, as often as possible. The barely disguised idea is that everyone needs protection against mayhem. In other words, peace of mind may be purchased from your friendly insurance company.
Exactly which insurance company paid for the commercial escapes me, which, when you think about it, means that the ad agency that put the commercial together and made a lot of money by so doing, failed. Because the whole point of television commercials is to make darn sure the viewers know what is being sold and who makes it. That way, the viewers can go down to their local store and buy what is being sold, thus avoiding the embarrassment of purchasing some inferior product.
So although the mayhem commercial is a winner in one sense—you find yourself watching it for the same reason people watch demolition derbies—it fails in the ultimate sense. The viewing public doesn’t know which company sells the insurance they (the viewing public) need to protect themselves against mayhem.
Too bad, because a lot of creativity went into the commercial.
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is this. The commercial got me to thinking about the word "mayhem." I couldn’t remember the last time I’d used "mayhem" in a sentence. For that matter, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard anyone use "mayhem" in a sentence. Mayhem simply isn’t one of those words that come tripping off of everyone’s lips. And I believe I know why. First, most people aren’t precisely sure what mayhem means. They are aware that it refers to destruction of some type, but since they aren’t comfortable with their level of knowledge about the word’s precise definition, along with when and where it should be used, they ignore it as an option.
Article comments
1 - Alan Kurtz
The advertiser is Allstate and their ad agency is Leo Burnett. It was easy for me to find that information on the Internet. Why couldn't you have done so?
Anyhow, upon first reading your article, I wondered if the ad campaign postdates the mayhem in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011. If so, I thought, the insurance company must be callously and opportunistically playing on the fears aroused by that event, in which six people were shot to death in broad daylight outside a Safeway store, and 14 others were wounded.
With my quick and easy background check, however, I found that the campaign dates from last summer. So any connection with the mayhem in Tucson is strictly in the mind of the beholder.