Playing dumb. It's just not smart.

I expected to like, even love, the new series of Allstate ads, The UnReal Adventures of Ted and Traci. The series of short videos features Barbie-and-Ken-type dolls enacting everyday mishaps; getting into a fender bender, burning something in the oven, fire in the backyard barbecue. Love the idea of something fun, something different. I thought the the Allstate Mayhem ads were brilliant and I was excited to see this new series. Sadly, The UnReal Adventures of Ted and Traci miss the mark for me.

Where as Mayhem was smart, engaging, funny though terrifying, I found Ted and Traci naive, predictable and their actions just too dumb to be entertaining or scary. 

Distracted driving is a huge and serious problem. Deadly serious. But showing any driver, doll or stunt person, doing yoga poses on top of a car is just too far a stretch (no pun intended.) Too easy for a viewer to say, "Oh, I would never do that. I mean, sure, I talk on the phone, read texts, put on makeup, but it's not the same." I can't relate to these ads. Can't see myself or anyone I know in them.  

Compare Traci http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gsOoKMphOc&feature=player_embedded

with Mayhem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlfinjxFEYI

I'm not against using dumb in ads but dumb is hard to do smart. What makes the Geico lizard or the AFLAC duck work? Or Progressive's Flo? Not the sharpest pencil in the box but the Flo ads are still in play. 

To Allstate's credit the ads look good, the punch lines are clever and the episodes manage to highlight various lines of coverage. I applaud the team for trying something different. 

My old boss used to say, "Never put two 'cutes' in an ad. They cancel each other out." Maybe you can't put two 'simples' or two 'dumbs' in an ad. The combo of the childish execution with overly simplistic stories cancels out the engagement factor. 

Happy 4th, friends! Don't do anything dumb out there!