Risk vs. Mayhem – I’ve seen this idea before.

There are a lot of things that piss me off about the ad industry, but blatant copycat ideas rise above everything else.  I’ve worked in and around this industry for long enough to recognize the tremendous force that familiar ideas can sometimes have on the team and the client.   As agency people, we live to avoid the familiar and strive to always be original- always create something new that actually connects with people on some level of intelligence and emotion.  It’s the unofficial oath one takes when she enters “Adland.”  Apparently, the people in charge of the new Allstate Insurance campaign didn’t take that oath.

The new Allstate campaign focuses on a character titled “Mayhem” that predictably wreaks havoc on people’s houses, cars, boats…their lives in general.  Luckily Allstate is there to protect people from the path of destruction left by “Mayhem” because obviously, you’re in good hands with Allstate.  The idea isn’t bad.  Simple.  Straight-forward.  Brand can deliver on the promise to protect people’s possessions.

My issue is that the campaign is a pretty blatant copy of a campaign for Travelers Insurance that focused on a character titled “Risk” that ran a few years ago.  It’s idea was focused on “Risk never sleeps.” That campaign was extremely well produced, starring (randomly) one of the parking garage attendants from Ferris Bueller’s day off. It was artistic, memorable and original when it came out.  I’m not sure if it won awards, but it may have.  Point is, its been done before in the very recent past by a direct competitor and its an original enough idea that it can’t simply just be borrowed again by another brand, especially not a brand of the size, stature and talent as Allstate.

This angers me, but it’s only one example of a small copycat problem we have in the industry.  Its perplexing because in the creative process, when something smells of familiarity, everyone jumps through hoops to track down the original source – often times finding it and being forced to start again from scratch. We all draw upon other brands, ideas, culture, music, art, etc. to come up with ideas, but you don’t copy them!  I guess I’m just a little disappointed that such a great brand couldn’t find another really smart and original way to say they offer protection from the unexpected.

What’s your call?  Are they different enough?