Heather Buzbee

Dr. Rollins
ENG 4300
12 December 2013
No One Protects You from Teenage Girls like Allstate
Abstract:
This paper analyzes how an Allstate Mayhem commercial uses humor to sell car insurance.
Through incongruity and superiority theories of humor as well as the differentiation function of
humor, Allstate uses humor to entertain, relax, and help the audience cope with the frightening
idea of car insurance so that Allstate can ultimately persuade the audience to buy their product.
Many humor theorists claim that humor can do so much more than just entertain an
audience. Cicero once said, We orators utter [witticisms] for a specific reason, that is, not to
seem funny, but to achieve something (189). In many instances, humor can be used to create a
space for an audience to think about subjects they normally would be uncomfortable discussing.
In their series of Mayhem commercials, the insurance company Allstate uses humor and this
function of humor both to discuss a difficult subject and to persuade the audience to buy
insurance. In this series of commercials, Dean Winters, a well-known actor who plays in serious
shows such as Law and Order and Oz, plays the role of Mayhem to depict a variety of dangerous
circumstances that people need insurance for. These situations are not something most people
want to think about because the situations are unpleasant or scary. However, instead of scaring
the audience into buying insurance, Allstate uses Mayhem to make these instances funny so the
audience can reflect on and prepare for these circumstances without getting upset. In one
commercial from this series Mayhem: Dean Winters as a Teenage Girl, Allstate uses the
incongruity and superiority theories of humor and the differentiation function of humor to
entertain and relax the audience and ultimately persuade them to buy insurance.

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Allstate uses Oring and Bergsons incongruity theories of humor to introduce Dean
Winters as a teenage girl in order to entertain the audience. At the beginning of the clip, the
audience sees a close shot of Dean Winters. He is a tough looking middle-aged man in a suit
with a bruised up, unshaven face with bandages and stitches as if he is fresh from a fight or a
rough cop show. He also has pink sunglasses on his head as if to pull back his hair like a teenage
girl would do, a cell phone in hand, and driving a pink SUV. This image alone is funny because a
tough-looking guy like Winters seems out of place in a pink SUV with pink sunglasses.
However, as soon as this image of Winters appears he tells the audience, Im a teenage girl.
This is funny based on Orings theory of appropriate incongruity. Orings theory states
appropriate incongruity as, the recognition of a connection even if that connection is logically
or empirically questionable (2). Because Winters says he is playing a teenage girl, the pink
SUV and sunglasses are appropriate because they fit the concept of looking like a teenage girl.
However, even with the sunglasses, cell phone, and SUV, Winters still does not look or sound
like a teenage girl at all, and the incongruity between him and what he is trying to be is funny.
This is also funny based on Bergsons incongruity theory of humor. Bergson claims, Now such
a notion is formed when we perceive anything inert or stereotypedThere we have rigidity over
again clashing with the inner suppleness of life (11). The audience knows the stereotype for
teenagers and teenage girls, and while some of the actions stereotyped for teenagers as a grain of
truth, the audience is also aware that not all teenagers are held to this stereotype because
everyone is different. So, when someone acts exactly like a stereotype, based on Bergsons
theory, this is funny because the person acting out the stereotype is acting like a machine and
being inelastic. Based on Oring and Bergson, the image of Dean Winters trying to be a teenage
girl is entertaining to the audience.

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The language and tone Winters uses also adds to the humor of this first scene. In order to
be a teenage girl, not only does Winters try to look the part, but he also uses some of the
language teenage girls would supposedly use as well as in a situation a teenage girl would be in.
He says, My BFF Becky just texted me and told me she kissed Johnny. Well, thats a problem
because I like Johnny. The audience does not expect a tough looking middle aged man to say
something like this. According to Cicero, We expect to hear one thing but another is said. When
this happens, our own error makes us laugh (192). Because the audience is surprised and does
not expect this, they find it funny. When he uses the language the girl would use it sounds off
because the language is incongruous to his image. This again is also funny based on Bergsons
theory of humor because Winters is acting out a stereotype. Winterss tone also adds to the
humor. Most of what he says is in a serious matter-of-fact tone instead of with the emotion of an
actual teenage girl in that situation. This is funny based on the incongruity theory of humor.
Because he is supposed to be a teenage girl, the audience does not expect him to say the lines in
that tone. His tone does not fit the character he is trying to portray. This language and tone is
unexpected and according to the incongruity theory of humor, funny.
Through the humor in this first scene, Allstate helps the audience feel more in control of
the situation and releases the tension caused by this touchy subject. Car insurance is not
something most people want to talk about because it deals with accidents and situations that
people are not in control of. However, Allstate uses humor to make the audience feel more in
control of the situation. To make fun of the future is to put it under our control, if only for a
brief instant of a shared explosive laughter, by mastering the fear it provokes (Marder 3). By
making the audience laugh at the situation, Allstate puts the audience in control and by doing so,
makes them comfortable with the subject. Allstate also diffuses the tension caused by this

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uncomfortable subject. Morreall states, Because humor allows us to cope better with stressful
situations, it can markedly reduce tension and these accompaniments of stress (6). Laughing at
the situation can help the audience feel less stressed or tense about the subject. By using humor,
Allstate makes the audience feel relaxed and more open to listening to Allstates argument.
To continue relaxing the audience, Allstate then makes a car accident funny by using
Bergson and Meyers theories of humor. In the commercial, because Winters is emotionally
compromised, he swerves and hits a parked car in the parking lot. However, Winters is
unconcerned with the damaged car, and instead says, Im all like Omg, Becky isnt even hot.
This is funny based on the incongruity theory of humor. After this accident, the audience expects
the teenage driver to be upset about the car accident or address it in some way, but instead she
continues to go on about her best friend. This is also funny based on Bergsons theory of
mechanical inelasticity. Bergson claims, The laughable element [] consists of a certain
mechanical inelasticity, just where one would expect to find the wide awake adaptability and the
living pliableness of a human being (6). Bergson argues that when someone follows their own
habits and agendas instead of adapting to the situation, this is funny. Here, Winters illustrates this
by continuing to follow his original train of thought and obsessing over the situation with his
friend. This is also funny based on the relief theory of humor. The relief theory of humor
focuses on the physiological release of tension (Meyer 310). This unexpected statement evokes
laughter because it is incongruous, but this laughter also releases the tension created from the
accident. Because this laughter releases tension, this also fits in the relief theory of humor.
Allstate makes the car accident funny to illustrate the damage to the car and the
teenagers attitude about it without scaring the audience or making them uncomfortable. When
Winters hits the parked car, it is a three second shot that shows the damaged car, and the

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audience can clearly see that the parked car is not just scratched up but its entire front bumper
has been practically ripped off. Although the scene is funny, the imagery still reveals that the
teenager did substantial damage to the car. In addition to the image of the seriously damaged car,
the teenage girl is completely unconcerned. The humor in the scene makes it seem like the
accident was not that big of a deal to the teenager. However, the shot of the car accident as well
as the shot of the car after the accident and in the background shows that the car is severely
damaged. Because of the portrayal of the teenage girl, the audience may feel like they are paying
for the carelessness of a silly teenage girl, and her carelessness is dangerous because teenagers
are so emotionally ran. Using humor, Allstate can show the severity of the car accident and
teenagers attitude without making the audience too upset.
During the commercial, Allstate also shows a clip of the owner of the car to show the
audience exactly what will happen if they do not get the car insurance, which also illustrates how
helpless they are in the situation. Right after Winters hits the car and makes a comment about his
friend, the next scene is a direct cut to a five second clip of the owner of the car. The owner runs
to her car with her groceries in hand, looks at her car in dismay then looks around in distress. She
has no lines and no voice, but it is clear from her expression and body language that she did not
see the pink SUV, and she does not know what happened, only that her car is now wrecked. The
owner of the car is helpless in this situation. She does not even have a voice. Instead, there is a
voice over of Winters as mayhem directly addressing the audience, If you have cut rate
insurance, you could be paying for this yourself. By directly addressing the audience, this scene
puts the audience in the shoes of the helpless car owner so that the audiences emotions are
invested in the reaction of the car owner. However, the audience has enough distance from the
humor in the piece to logically assess the situation without being too emotionally invested. The

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commercial shows that the owner of the car is helpless but will have to pay for the accident
anyway, at least if they dont have Allstate. This clip reinforces Allstates main argument:
teenage drivers are a threat to be protected against. It is a subtle reminder that things like this
happen, but drivers can be prepared for it if they have Allstate.
It is important note that although humor releases the tension and relaxes the audience, the
commercial does not downplay the severity of the situation or laugh it away. In the last scene
with Winters driving off, although Winters is in the main frame and we are laughing at him, the
image of the destroyed car is still looming in the background so the accident and previous scene
is not forgotten. The clip of the helpless owner of the car is also a sobering reminder that this is a
real, dangerous situation. By approaching the subject this way, Allstate uses humor to get the
audience to think about something that they normally find scary or just do not want to think
about. Not only do they get them to think about it, but they also get the audience to laugh at it.
However, they do not laugh the situation away, but instead use this laughter to give the audience
distance to see the situation and take the necessary precautions to prevent it.
In this commercial, through Orings appropriate incongruity theory of humor, Allstate is
specifically making the argument that teenage drivers are mayhem. One of the last scenes is a
close up shot of Winters face again, only this time the really messed up car is in the background.
Winters winks, and it is revealed that he is mayhem. The pink SUV speeds away like a getaway
car and that does seem to fit Dean Winters tough guy look and consequently, mayhem. By doing
this the commercial shows how Dean Winters playing the teenage girl is appropriate because
Winters is not only playing a teenage girl, but he is also supposed to be mayhem. This image
of a tough middle-aged man with pink sunglasses on his head trying to be a teenage girl is
incongruous and therefore funny. However, the idea of an actual teenage girl being a tough guy

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like mayhem also seems silly. The audience does not think of teenage girls as mayhem just as
they do not think of Winters as a teenage girl. However, in the end, Allstate merges these two
ideas because of the accident that the girl gets into. They illustrate that the teenage girl and
teenage drivers are mayhem and how the image of Dean Winters playing a teenage girl is united
under one concept, which is Orings theory of humor. According to Oring, the realization of a
link between the two images under one concept, is an appropriate incongruity and therefore
funny. They even say at the end, Mayhem is everywhere. They want to make the audience
aware of the dangers around them, even in the form of teenage girls. By using Winters as a
teenage girl, Allstate is making an argument that teenage girls and teenage drivers are mayhem
that adults who buy car insurance, need to protect themselves from.
By using humor to point out this argument about teenage drivers, Allstate uses the
differentiation function of humor to persuade the audience. Meyer states, Differentiation and
enforcement humor show the violation, though laughable, to be an unacceptable violation that
needs to be focused on, corrected, or avoided in the future (319). Through humor, the
commercial shows the kinds of accidents teenage drivers can cause are unacceptable (especially
if the audience has to pay for it by themselves), and that these accidents, or at least paying for
these accidents, should be avoided in the future. In making fun of the teenage driver, Allstate is
trying to persuade the audience to unite against teenage drivers and protect themselves from
these kinds of accidents. Although Allstate uses humor throughout the text, it presents this
scenario as a legitimate concern to prepare for. This argument is being made by the different
theories of humor, the imagery of the severely damaged car, and the portrayal of teenage drivers
as mayhem. Through humor, this text shows the audience that teenage drivers are no laughing
matter.

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This Allstate commercial and the rest of the commercials in the Mayhem series are
examples of how humor can be used to help the audience deal with a difficult subject. No one
wants to think about the fact that things like a car accident or a tree falling on your house can
happen out of your control. However, things like this do happen whether we like it or not. Some
situations are out of our control as the audience sees with the owner of the car in this
commercial. But as Allstate demonstrates, humor can help the audience deal with this. In Jokes
and their Relation to Crisis Michael Marder argues, At the same time, however, humor reveals
the strength of weakness, and, hence, our capacity to face our own predicament without
dissimulations, false reassurances or unrealistic expectations. Instead of endeavoring to master
the future, we plunge into the chasm between what is to come and the present, deepening the
crisis in ironic self-consciousness (Marder 3). Humor can help the audience cope with their own
finitude and helplessness. Humor helps to obtain some distance from an unpleasant situation so
that the audience can think clearly about it and be prepared for the worst. Bad things happen out
of our control, but we can control how we react to those situations. And sometimes, we can even
laugh at them.

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Works Cited
Bergson, Henri. Excerpt from Laughter. The Comic in General the Comic Element in Forms
and Movement Expansive Force of the Comic. ENG 4300 Moodle. 11 Nov 2013.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Invention: Excurses on Wit. ENG 4300 Moodle. 29 Aug 2013.
Lordbaenre. Allstate Mayhem Commercial: Dean Winters as a Teenage Girl in a Pink Truck.
Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 1 Aug 2010. Web. 11 Dec 2013. Marder, Michael.
Jokes and Their Relation to Crisis. ENG 4300 Moodle. 7 Sept 2013.
Meyer, John C. Humor as a Double-Edged Sword: Four Functions of Humor in
Communication. ENG 4300 Moodle. 11 Nov 2013.
Morreall, John. Taking Laughter Seriously: Humor and Freedom. ENG 4300 Moodle. 7 Sept
2013.
Oring, Elliott. Jokes and Their Relations. ENG 4300 Moodle. 24 Sept 2013.

Copyright Heather Buzbee 2015