Crash all you want!

Theoretically, car insurance should encourage you to be a better driver, right? Getting tickets or into accidents will drive your rates sky-high to the point that you probably wouldn't be able to afford to drive, so you need to be more careful. Or, you could pay a premium and not have to worry about it. Cool?



Let me first say that while I will freely admit to paying almost no attention to NASCAR and caring about it even less, I am nonetheless skeptical of the idea that even people who do would recognize Kasey Kahne driving down the street. And even if they did recognize him, the odds that it would be a car full of Kahne fangirls drops to about zero. I suppose if you drive cars for a living, you need to be bribed into appearing in an ad that suggests you're not the best driver.

Allstate: So, Kasey. We're thinking that in this campaign we show you crashing into things. Like, even the best drivers get into accidents.
Kahne: Um, you know that race car drivers aren't big fans of crashes, right?
Allstate: How about we let you dictate the circumstances of the crash, then?
Kahne: Okay, I crash accidentally while trying to comically avoid all my rabid female fans.
Allstate: ...whatever.

So Kahne sees these fans of his and flashes back to moments when other crazy female fans chasing him caused him to crash. Naturally, he proceeds to immediately crash. The idea behind the ad is that "even the best drivers sometimes get into accidents," but "Accident Forgiveness," the product being pitched, isn't so much about that as it is a premium being paid that allows people to get away with being careless drivers. If you're legitimately a good driver, you're not that likely to get into an accident that's your fault, right? So why would you pay a premium of maybe 15% - which is what Allstate charges for this coverage - just on the chance you might? Seems like an expensive gamble. Allstate suggests that this coverage is good for parents of teen drivers - hey, I have an idea! Maybe you should spend more time teaching your kids to be good drivers, rather than paying higher insurance premiums so you don't have to worry about it. It's not like you aren't already paying out the nose if you have a teen driver on your insurance, as any parent of a 16-year-old will be well aware. And Allstate kind of has a vested interest in not encouraging responsible driving - the same kids whose accidents are forgiven now will grow up to be adults paying exorbitant premiums thanks to all the accidents they've gotten into.

On the bright side, this commercial wins the DiSaronno Memorial Award for "Most Thinly-Veiled Reference to Oral Sex at the End of an Ad."